SAO: The Eroge
by SaintInfernalNeos
Summary: Many people wish their lives could become a videogame...the thing is, though, few actually bother specifying WHICH type of game. Kirigaya Kazuto will realize it's not as 'obvious' as it should be when he wakes up one day with the 'power' to raise 'Flags', unlock 'Routes' and gain 'Affection Points'. Will his Sanity survive what's about to come his way...?
1. Prologue Scene: Flags and Routes!

Happy April Fools, people! Here is Saint to bring you, like last year, a crazy SAO idea to fit this date :P!

So, this occurred to me some time ago, while going through yet another of the many 'Gamer Fics' that are on the site (I'm sure many of you should have, if not read, at least heard of or crossed paths with one or two before). I was just tired of how boring/repetitive/slow most of them are (Sans a few exceptions) when an extremely hilarious and amusing idea came to my mind about making a 'parody' of the concept because, as the summary of this says, while a lot of people wishes for their lives to be like a game, very few actually detail specifically WHICH type, as at this point many think it's all but implied to be an 'RPG' :P In this case, though…

Well, before we get to that part, let's start it off with the only recurrent characters in my SAO Fanfics' Omniverse. And no, I'm not talking about Kirito, but our dear Absolute Ones :D Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **[Arc 1: Dating Tutorial]**

* * *

 **Prologue Scene: The Basics of Flags and Routes!**

The Omniverse. An infinite construct formed by infinite Multiverses, which are, at the same time, formed by infinite Universes. On it, everything can happen…

And yet, sometimes, things that are beyond all understanding and that are so horrifying they should never happen, do so.

Like in this case, something that, every time it happened, brought headaches of Cosmic proportions…[LIFE] and [DEATH] made a bet.

On Its Throne above Everything, [FATE] groaned, ignoring the whole deal between Its 'sisters', going back to 'play' with Its 'Chains'.

[TIME] and [SPACE] were seemingly unaffected, but if one could look closely into their eternally spinning forms on the Great Void, they would have noticed the Omniversal equivalent to nervous sweat covering them. Coincidentally, several anomalies related to space and time alterations were reported in several Multiverses.

At the edge of Reality, [DESTINY] whimpered, hovering protectively over his 'board game'.

But putting the reaction of the other Absolute Ones aside, the root of the matter, the two sisters actually betting on something when they usually couldn't stand each other (Well, more like one couldn't stand the other and the other was usually too busy marveling at everything to even pay attention to the former) , occurred because of an exchange too complex to be understood by the minds of any being existing within the Omniverse, but that, in a context anyone 'normal' could understand, went along these lines:

"Heeey, sis! Long time no see!"

"Get lost. I don't even want to see you. Get out of my Unreality."

"Awww, don't be so mean about it! When was the last time we saw each other?"

"[TIME]'s normal influence has no dominion over us, you imbecile! For me it's like it has been but an instant since you last came to bug me!"

"Eh, for me it's been like many eternities…"

"That's because you spend too much time watching the worthless living beings of our Omniverse as if they were fascinating."

"But they are! The simpler ones even more so, I'm starting to get what [DESTINY] sees in them! Why, so many of them love my Gift so much…"

"And even more spread 'mine' without any care, to end up here for the rest of Eternity."

"…no, I'm pretty sure more enjoy mine."

"They don't."

"They do."

"They don't!"

"They do!"

…and you can guess how it went from there.

In the end, because of this, both 'sisters' decided to bet on who was right, and after discussing the nature of their bet for an undetermined period of No-Time and discarding ideas involving Universe-wide wars or Tournaments of Power, they decided to have a single, simple 'lesser being' be the object of their conflict.

They would grant him a terrible power, one that would allow him to change the very Fate of his world in terrifying ways. And once he was done, they would count what he had brought more, if Life or Death.

And so, a particular Multiverse that had been giving both headaches and curiosity to the Absolute Ones lately was chosen, a specific boy that was usually at the center of its stories from a random, untouched, and with its story yet-untold, Universe…

* * *

 **October 1st, 2022. Kawagoe, Saitama. Kirigaya household, 08:30…**

…

…Beep!

 **[Congratulations! You have become 'The Protagonist'! Let's start raising Flags!]**

Blinking in utter confusion, Kirigaya Kazuto stared dumbly at the strange pinkish 'screen' with white font that was floating before his face, unsure of what was going on that Sunday morning.

Certainly, the boy knew that, between still not being fully used to school's routine after Summer Vacations ended not long ago and his mounting for the every-day-closer official release of Sword Art Online (Of which he had been a proud Beta Tester during the arguably best month of his relatively short life), suffering some hallucinations when waking up 'early' shouldn't be too weird…except for the part that this particular hallucination was not only too bizarre but also refused to vanish no matter how much he blinked or rubbed his eyes.

Slowly sitting up, the black-haired boy almost flinched when he saw the mysterious 'screen' moved with him, staying always at a fixed distance from his face and in perfect balance, as if it was purposefully trying to stay in a way he could perfectly read it no matter in which direction he looked.

Finally, after several seconds of doubt, the gamer extended his hand towards the phenomenon and, with a weirdly 'digital' sound, it vanished, startling him.

"…what the hell was that?" mumbled Kazuto with utter confusion, before the insistent sounds of someone knocking on his door alerted him of the fact that maybe he had been _too_ focused on the weird screen.

"Onii-chan, didn't you hear me?! Breakfast is ready! I just heard you, so I know you're awake!" opening the door with a frown in her young face, 13-years-old Kirigaya Suguha glared towards her 'brother' with annoyance, actually catching the boy off-guard, as he hadn't expected her to barge into his room. "Were you ignoring me?!"

The gamer hadn't even been able to start processing her words when the world suddenly stopped.

As in, literally, a weirdly mechanic 'sound' suddenly filled his ears and _everything_ around him lost color and froze, as if someone had cast an unnatural spell to freeze time itself.

It wasn't the sight of this or of his paralyzed adoptive sister what shocked Kazuto to the core, though.

No, what took that prize were the 3 new 'screens' that had suddenly shown up before him, in the same pinkish color with white letters than before, neatly ordered one over the other.

 **A-[Of course I was. Now please, get out of my room, I have to change.]**

 **B-[N-no, Sugu; of course I wasn't! I swear!]**

 **C-[Nah, I was just waiting for you to enter. Now, how about a good morning kiss to start the day?]**

"What." simply stated the boy while staring at the 3 lines of text, especially the last one.

The sudden bizarre stop of time would normally have caused a serious mix of panic and excitement in him, but the sheer absurdity of the 3 'Choices' before him, especially as he could see Suguha's _'Were you ignoring me?!'_ written above them, completely killed that from his mind.

Because despite his looks and social status as a loner who preferred playing videogames over relating with people, Kirigaya Kazuto was still a Japanese teenager that had been able to build his own computer and hack into national registries when he was just 10 (Which had led to him finding out he was adopted and as such distancing himself from his family). As such, he was more than familiar with the certain type of games where a situation like this usually happened.

Namely, Dating Simulators. Though in his case, he had never played any of the cute/romantic or innocent types, but the more, ehem, 'Adult' ones, even if he knew the basic principle was the same for both.

Suddenly, the earlier words from the first screen came back to his mind, making him blink in disbelief.

No…there was no way that is life had suddenly become a Dating Sim through unknown means. That sounded like the rejected plot of a very cheap Light Novel and this was no doubt some very weird and convoluted dream. Deciding that this was the case without a doubt, the gamer threw himself back on the bed, pointedly ignoring the screens and closed his eyes

An undetermined amount of time later (Because his room's digital clock was apparently frozen at 8:31) and after having realized that he couldn't get out of his room even if he tried to step past the paralyzed and colorless form of his sister (Who was actually his cousin, even if she didn't know it), Kirigaya Kazuto started coming to the terrifying realization that 'maybe' this wasn't actually a dream.

Which was insane. I mean, he had certainly read his fair share of manga and stories where something along those lines happened, as in, the protagonists' life turning into a videogame, and had dreamed more than once of it happening to him…but that was turning it into an RPG! Who had ever heard of your life being turned into Dating Sim?! Not only was the concept absurd, it was extremely stupid!

Finally coming to the realization that he was essentially 'trapped' until he did something, the boy 'sighed' and stopped before Suguha's stopped body, giving her a look before looking back at the 3 choices and biting his lips.

Certainly, his first impulse had been almost to select the first one, both out of annoyance and from the panic that had started building up within him as the reality of his situation started settling in, but he quickly crushed that line of thought. He had no idea what this 'power' or whatever it was could do if he chose a 'wrong' option, and as much as he had been purposefully trying to distance himself from the girl the last years, he didn't even remotely wish for anything bad happening to her because of his carelessness.

Of course, out of common sense, the second choice would have been the most appropriate one, but if Kazuto was honest he didn't like the apparent tone the stutter at the beginning and the overall sentence gave him. It made him feel as if that was the choice some spineless character used to go along with anything the females in his life said would choose.

And so, with all the professionalism of a consummated gamer and a teenager that had played Eroges in the past, the boy's eyes fell on the last option, the one that would have been discarded first out of common sense if he ever thought it in a normal conversation.

This wasn't anything even remotely normal, however, and also, besides his gaming instincts telling him it was the 'right' option, it also offered him a way to do some harmless payback towards his little sister in the form of teasing.

With the barest hint of a grin at the thought, Kazuto nodded to himself and, with more determination this time, pushed the 'Option C'.

Immediately, the weirdest feeling he had ever experienced overcame him, the boy feeling as if the world 'blurred' around him until he was, somehow, back on his bed, in the same exact position he had been when the 'choices' first showed up.

The gamer hadn't yet recovered from the dizziness that being 'reset' in his original position when the world suddenly started 'moving' again, color and sound returning…and both his mouth and body were suddenly moving by a will not his own, as if some greater power had suddenly overridden his every action.

"Nah, I was just waiting for you to enter." happily spoke the boy with a cheeky grin that took the young kendoka completely off guard, having never seen him make a face even remotely like that. "Now, how about a good morning kiss to start the day? Nee, Sugu?"

A few seconds of shocked silence ensued even as the shocked Kazuto recovered control over his body, the gamer already thinking of a convincing apologize…when he saw his adoptive sister blush furiously and stutter, a mix of outrage and embarrassment in her face as she almost tripped over her own feet when backpedaling, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Wha…?! You…! A-ah, ju-just hurry up and come do-down for breakfast!" shouted Suguha with very poorly faked anger as she all but ran away downstairs, leaving her dumbfounded adopted brother behind.

He didn't even have time to open his mouth and voice his shock at how it had actually worked as he expected, though, because several 'Notifications' suddenly popped before him with weirdly musical chiming.

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievement: 'Smooth First Move'! You gained +1 in Charm!]**

 **[Suguha Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Kirigaya Suguha!]**

 **[Your current status with Suguha has changed to 'Awkward Siblings'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievement: 'First of Many'! You gain +1 in Aura!]**

"…holy fucking shit, this may actually be real." mumbled the wide-eyed boy, still staring at the Notifications in disbelief.

In the edge between Reality and Unreality, the watch for a pointlessly transcending bet started…

* * *

Breakfast had been quite a slightly awkward affair, mainly because Sugu kept glaring at him through all of it (Though with the bright blush in her face it only made her look oddly cute), but also because of something that hadn't been 'there' before.

Namely, over the young kendoka's head, and that Kazuto was having a very hard time pretending he couldn't see.

 **[Kirigaya Suguha: 'Lonely Little Sister']**

 **[Relationship Status: Awkward Siblings]**

 **[Affection Points: 0/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: Suguha is your younger cousin, though she thinks she's your actual little sister (And legally, she is). She has no idea you were adopted when you weren't even 1-year-old, nor that discovering this 4 years ago is the reason you started being so cold and distant with your adoptive family (Especially with her, given your parents are almost never home). This has led her to be unsure and slightly bitter around you, and to silently hurt thinking she did something wrong to ruin the nice relationship you had for most of your childhood]**

The black haired-boy was trying VERY hard to not let what he could see affect him, not to mention prevent the guilt filling him every time he accidentally glanced at the 'summary' from showing on his face. Sure, he hadn't been thinking of anything but his own problems and mixed feelings when he found out the truth about his family, but he had never thought it would have affected Suguha _that_ much.

He had chalked up her change in attitude these past years to growing up and going through the natural phase all siblings did when they started to not want to keep being with their older siblings all the time, which suited him just fine, but…

Suddenly, the image of the six-years-old with teary but determined eyes standing protectively over him while shouting to their grandfather she would become good enough in kendo for both of them flashed through his mind, a memory of gratefulness and shame hitting him. Then, another of running as fast as his poor legs allowed him and jumping into the pond without hesitation to drag her drowning form out into safety followed, fear and worry followed by teary relief shooting through his mind again.

All of it before he found out he was adopted, and all things he hadn't even bothered thinking back on since then too.

Had he really been so stupid he had made one of the few people that had ever truly cared for him (And vice versa) feel like that just because…?

"Today it's your turn to clean the dishes, Onii-chan." spoke Suguha with an even voice, bringing the boy out of his musings and also making him realize she had finally put the awkwardness from his earlier teasing/joke behind her. "Don't slack off, okay?"

 **A-[Ugh…can't I wait until dinner and wash it all in a single go?]**

 **B-[Don't worry, I won't…a-also, sorry about that joke earlier…]**

 **C-[Heh, okay, I shall. Anything for my cute little sister!]**

This time, Kazuto actually groaned when the world screeched to a halt and lost all color, deadpanning towards the three new options before him. Without any hesitation now, he pressed the third one, barely sparing a glance towards the former two.

While this time he was ready, the feeling of some higher force taking over his actions and words still felt immensely weird and just a tad disturbing to the black-haired boy when the world returned to normal and he felt himself smiling brightly towards his adoptive sister, leaning unnecessarily close to her when he grabbed the dishes she had used.

"Heh, okay, I shall." happily declared the gamer's 'overridden'-self with a slightly cheeky edge to his tone, the young kendoka almost flinching in both surprise and disbelief. "Anything for my cute little sister!"

The effect was instantaneous now, and Kazuto found himself recovering control over himself in time to watch with fascination how an atomic blush covered Suguha's face, the girl all but bolting to her feet the next instant.

"Wha-what's up with you today?! Do-don't tease me so much, Onii-chan!" 'warned' the young kendoka before all but running away from the scene, trying her best to hide her adorably blushing face.

 **[Your charming cheekiness overwhelmed a Heroine! You gained +1 in Charm!]**

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Suguha!]**

"…huh, I'm pretty sure that's the most emotional reactions I have gotten out of Sugu in years." mumbled the black-haired boy while dismissing the new notifications, a resigned look on his face. "And I think it's about time I properly figure out what the hell this thing is about…"

And so, it was with that determination that (Once the dishes were washed and drying) Kirigaya Kazuto was now sitting in his bed, arms crossed as he stared towards empty space with a frown, as if trying to convince himself this wasn't the silliest thing ever.

"…Menu?"

With an almost cute chime, a new 'window' materialized before the gamer, shattering his small remaining hopes of it all not being but an absurdly complex dream.

The feeling of disappointing resignation that he had been feeling since earlier that morning came back to the front of his mind very fast, though, once his eyes analyzed the overly simplistic and pink-colored 'Menu' before him.

 **[Dating Stats]**

 **[Heroines Status]**

 **[Titles]**

 **[Skills]**

 **[Achievements]**

"…it's actually a fucking Dating Simulator." groaned the gamer with a hint of despair in his voice.

Having your life turned into a videogame was probably a dream way too many people had, and he would lie if he said a part of him didn't share that dream too, even if he had grown out of thinking about such things quickly…

So, having this happening to him was like the most ironic twist of Fate, as if someone was trying to use him as a practical joke.

He hadn't become a cool RPG-like character that had limitless potential, no…he had gained an amazing reality-altering power (It stopped Time itself for the entire world as a base function, for God's sake) for picking up chicks.

"Lamest. Superpower. Ever." mumbled Kazuto while hanging his head (Ignoring how many males in the world would fervently disagree with that statement) before looking back at the Menu and starting to explore it, in hopes that maybe this wasn't as useless for general life as he feared.

His efforts…weren't rewarded.

 **[Dating Stats]**

 **Charm: 3**

 **Wisdom: 1**

 **Aura: ?**

These 'stats' didn't grant him amazing powers, not even the most RPG-sounding ones. Apparently, 'Charm' stood for his natural ability to make other people find him approachable/attractive/ likable (And he had to accept it was no surprise it had been at '1' until he got this power, as depressing as it sounded). 'Wisdom' didn't stand for his actual intelligence or ability to retain knowledge, but for his capacity to know what others liked or not about him or whatever he/they were doing on instinct (Again, no surprise it was so low). The only incognita was 'Aura', which apparently stood for 'His natural ability to draw other people to himself'. The question mark at its side made no sense in his eyes, and any attempts to tamper with it had only gotten him the description of the 'Stat' to pop up again and again.

It probably meant it was at 0 or something like that, or at least that's what he reasoned before (Once it became apparently obvious he didn't even have a sad Level System) he moved onto the next Menus.

'Heroine Status' seemed to only be a way for him to see the same data he had seen above Sugu's head before, just wherever he was, and currently contained only his little sister's name. 'Titles'…

 **[Titles]**

 **[The Protagonist]: You're the MC! The most improbable and convoluted things are sure to come your way! (Grants immunity to people's taunts about your luck)**

…only had one currently available too, and the less he thought about it, the better. 'Skills', the one he had the most hopes about…

 **[Skills]**

 **[Eroge Protagonist]: Your life can be played like a Dating Sim.**

 **[MC Wisdom]: Grants your power the innate ability to discern between 'Filler Characters' and 'Potential Heroines'.**

 **[To Protect that Smile]: ? (Skill Locked)**

…just disappointed him even more, especially given how silly his only 'locked' skill sounded. Finally, 'Achievements' seemed to work like those in many modern games would…except that it seemed like 99% of them were 'hidden', mostly showing only the ones he had already unlocked, and didn't even indicate which rewards were awarded for them.

 **[Achievements]**

 **[First of Many]: Unlock a Route.**

 **[Smooth First Move]: Choose the Best Option during your first Interaction with a Heroine.**

Suffice to say, Kazuto wasn't impressed at all, even more when the name for even the few Achievements whose conditions he could see ('Unlock more than 8 Routes'? seriously? Like that could ever happen) were hidden too.

All in all, it seemed as if someone had tried to put together an overly complicated system for a third-rate Dating Sim and then slapped it on him for no apparent reason.

And while he was a perfectly straight hormonal teenager, the boy didn't have any illusions about abusing this power to get a girlfriend or anything similar. After all, his 'Stats' showed very well how grounded into reality this bizarre ability was, unlike those he had read about in the past, and without any system to even allow him to 'Level Up' in the first place, these wouldn't go beyond what he could do by himself in the first place (Which given he hadn't even had a proper female friend since grade school, or actual close friends in general, wasn't all that impressive).

Hell, that it had worked with Sugu in the first place showed very well its limitations, remarking how damaged their relationship was and reminding him how much he had screwed up in regards to…

"…wait a minute." whispered the gamer while looking back at his bizarre 'menu', an idea suddenly hitting him. "Could I…?"

Eager to test his sudden theory, Kazuto quickly dismissed the strange interface and rushed towards his little sister's room, stopping before the door and knocking a couple times.

When it opened and Suguha's confused (And slightly shocked) expression greeted him, he had to squash down the feelings that the realization of knowing she found him going willingly to her room so surprising caused.

"Onii-chan? Is something wrong?"

"Uhm, Sugu…do you want to go out later?" questioned the black-haired boy with just a bit of hesitation, the young kendoka's eyes widening in shock. "We could go shopping and then get something for dinner too…"

"Wha-what?!" almost shouted the girl before shaking her head, suddenly looking at him with suspicion. "Wait…this is a plot so you don't have to wash dinner's dishes, right?"

"N-no! Of course not, it's just…well, you know, it's been ages since we last did anything together, so I thought…"

"O-oh…" mumbled Suguha while looking to the side, a mix of confusion and awkwardness in her face as she bit her lips, before seemingly nodding to herself and offering him a hesitant smile. "Su-sure, Onii-chan, I think that would be…nice."

"Tha-thanks Sugu, I promise I will make it worth your while." replied the gamer while giving her what he hoped looked like an honest smile.

It actually wasn't much of one, but it had the effect of reminding the young kendoka of the ones he had given her earlier, with the accompanying teasing they had, causing her face to turn red again as she muttered a quick agreement and closed her door.

 **[You gained 1 Affection Point with Heroine Suguha!]**

"…it works." softly spoke the wide-eyed Kazuto at the sudden notification, a relieved glint in his eyes. "With this…I can make it up to Sugu for being such a shitty brother lately!"

Sure, his 'superpower' may be (In his eyes) utter crap and he probably would have more luck cutting down a building-sized tree with an old axe (Or something equally ridiculous) than using it to find a girlfriend, but he could at least use it to easily fix his damaged relationship with his adoptive sister before SAO's official release.

This stupid thing was going to let him show Suguha he was the best big brother she could ask for in record time and there was no way it could possibly go wrong!

In that instant, for some reason, several Universes died and others were born at the same time, in a slightly out-of-synch cycle, causing [FATE], on Its Throne above Everything, to groan.

[LIFE] and [DEATH] weren't supposed to have laughing fits, let alone together…

* * *

 **November 5th, 2022. Kawagoe, Saitama. 15:30…**

As he walked back home from school that day while humming a happy tune, something he probably wouldn't even consider doing in public a month ago, Kirigaya Kazuto could probably say his life was quite good at the moment.

Part of it probably was because of his brand new copy of Sword Art Online, which was at that moment safely tucked away in his room beside his Nerve Gear, which he had been able to get earlier than most people thanks to having been part of the Beta Test (Which he had been thankful for, as some of the lines of people waiting to buy the VRMMORPG had been visible all the way to their school), and how the game's servers were finally going online tomorrow.

However, the most present and noticeable part of it was no doubt the smiling girl walking happily at his side and telling him about her day, wearing the uniform of his same middle school.

 **[Kirigaya Suguha: 'Happy Little Sister']**

 **[Relationship Status: Awkward Siblings]**

 **[Affection Points: 89/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: Suguha is your younger cousin, though she thinks she's your actual little sister (And legally, she is). She has no idea you were adopted when you weren't even 1-year-old, nor that discovering this 4 years ago is the reason you started being so cold and distant with your adoptive family (Especially with her, given your parents are almost never home). This has led her to be unsure and slightly bitter around you, and to silently hurt thinking she did something wrong to ruin the nice relationship you had for most of your childhood]**

"…and then Sempai told me I could actually be good enough to make it to the nationals if I kept practicing! Can you believe it, Onii-chan?!"

"Well, that's really no surprise, Sugu." replied the black-haired boy with a small grin. "After all, I don't think there is a single more dedicated kendoka than you in the entire Saitama Prefecture."

 **[You gained 1 Affection Point with Heroine Suguha!]**

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me, Onii-chan!" quickly replied Suguha while playfully hitting his shoulder, a grin in her face, but still with a small and pleased blush. "…you're going to be playing that virtual game of yours tomorrow, right?"

"You mean Sword Art Online? Yeah, I am." answered the gamer with a smile, thinking back for a moment to the floating castle and the fun he had on the Beta…if a bit surprised he didn't long for it as fervently as before. "It's gonna be fun to go back…"

Honestly, Kazuto would lie if he said he hadn't enjoyed this last month particularly. Despite how 'lame' his strange power was for almost literally anything, using it to repair his damaged relationship with his little sister had worked beyond his expectations. He had managed to use cues given by it and the occasional '3 Choices' (Which he realized popped up more and more rarely the more Affection Points he got with her) to keep raising the 'Affection' between them, and the results had been impressive. From awkward talks and forced/suspicious conversations, Sugu had once again warmed up to him, the girl clearly awed and more than confused at his newest sudden change in attitude towards her, but quickly accepting it with apparent happiness.

The boy wasn't sure if that was because of his power or just that she had really wanted him to start treating her like his sister again, but he was betting it was on the latter, especially as the last month he had confirmed he was right about how useless this ability of his was. Not a single Notification or Choice has appeared at all when he had tried (Poorly) to casually greet any of his female classmates in the last weeks, nor when any female teacher asked him something, which was partially a relief, as the stupid implications of it happening would have been too much of a chore to deal with. Even if he had found talking with girls without them staring blankly or laughing at him by the end of it had become surprisingly easier and less awkward, probably because of the increase in his Stats from his interactions with Sugu…

 **[Dating Stats]**

 **Charm: 6**

 **Wisdom: 3**

 **Aura: ?**

…but nothing else, which proved this 'Dating Sim' power was limited by his own limitations and capacity to interact with others. Meaning, unless an improbable miracle or situation happened, there was no way it was ever going to be practical for a guy like him who barely went out of home and preferred videogames over anything else.

"And I have extra kendo practice tomorrow…" continued the young kendoka with a small frown, making the gamer chuckle softly at the knowledge they were so close now that she actually would prefer spending time with him over her beloved sport. "We're not going to see each other for most of the day, uh?"

"Eh, I will probably be done playing at around 7 in the evening or so, when you will already be back." commented Kazuto upon seeing the slight disappointment in her face. "We can even make dinner together if you really want to…"

 **[A Special Event has been Triggered!]**

What?

The black-haired boy didn't even have time to fully acknowledge the new notification before a pamphlet came flying out of nowhere and hit him in the face, making the gamer flail his arms around and almost fall on his back.

"Onii-chan, are you okay?!" half-shouted Suguha while helping him stand straight and then grabbing the paper with surprise, her eyes widening slightly upon it. "Woah…I didn't know there was a festival in town."

"There is?" asked the confused Kazuto while peering over her shoulder, seeing how the pamphlet effectively proclaimed there was one on the other side of town, and that tonight was the last night it would be there. "I…hadn't heard about it either."

Which was weird, given he had spent quite some time lately checking up on news about SAO and its creator Kayaba Akihiko (If not as much as he originally thought given his time with his little sister), yet this has never popped up in his 'local news' screen when he entered the page he used to look for those.

Sure, it was possible he had just missed it, but why did he feel as if…?

"Man, it sure takes you back, uh? We went to quite a few of those when we were little…" muttered the young kendoka while smiling softly, lost in memories of simpler times. "Heh, I remember a few times some people even thought we were _sisters_ when we were in our kimonos!"

"Ugh, did you have to remind me of that?" grumbled the gamer, who had never been too proud of his girly face, in annoyance. "…say, Sugu, want to go? It's the last night it's here, after all."

"Re-really?!" turning around to look at him with eyes he could almost swear were sparkling, Suguha cheered as she hugged him out of nowhere, making him chuckle and hug her back. "You're the best, Onii-chan! C'mon, let's hurry home and get ready!"

"Heh, right behind you, Sugu."

Even as he followed his adoptive sister (And inwardly hoped she didn't try to run or he would never be able to catch her) home, Kazuto couldn't help but feel things were going great. Sure, his power may only be useful for a single thing and be a disappointment as far as superpower went, but it had still helped him make Sugu's life and mood way better than it had been a month ago. And for him, even if still a bit disappointing, that was more than enough.

He never noticed that the Notification from before had vanished.

And, if he had bothered to check his Menu, he would have seen how it was now shining above the usual options there, making the 'Skills' one shine too…

* * *

"Man…this has been a great night. Don't you think so, Onii-chan?"

"Yes…it sure has been, Sugu…"

Despite his words, as he sat there atop a freaking Ferris Wheel (Of all things) with his little sister (Who was happily hugging an oversized teddy bear), he couldn't help but have an all-consuming and gnawing feeling that something weird was going on.

It had nothing to do with how cute Suguha looked in her purple kimono (Or how 'nice' he looked in his black one, as she had told him), but happening to find those at home because their mother apparently bought them a few months ago for 'nostalgia' had been his first warning of things being strange.

When they arrived at the relatively-big festival just on the outskirts of Kawagoe (Once again making him think how rare it was to not have heard anything about it) and they happened to be the 10000th visitor, gaining free tickets for all the stalls and attractions in the festival once, his and Sugu's shock had quickly turned into further suspicion for him and joy for the young kendoka.

But then, everything just kept getting 'weirder' the more the night went on.

First of all, all the food they were making happened to be old festival-favorites both of himself and his sister, making her all but shine in joy, especially with how unnaturally delicious and well-made they were, as if the festival just happened to have gotten expert cooks or makers in all their food stalls. Then, he suddenly seemed to have become an ace in every single prize-winning festival game around, even those he KNEW he sucked horribly at or that he had never been too interested in, and that he only took part in for Sugu's sake that night, which had started first to shock him, then to actually scare him when he effortlessly took down a bunch of bottles on his first try with a ball, Sugu's cheers barely registering in his ears as the man in charge of the stall gave them that oversized bear she was now carrying.

Kirigaya Kazuto was, unlike his sister, a complete disappointment when it came to almost every single physical activity imaginable, in no small part because of how he had stayed away from sports like the plague after he quitted kendo and only done the bare minimum to not be suspended when it came to them in school. And while he had no problems using the Throwing Skill back during SAO's Beta, he knew that he was unable to properly throw anything, much less actual balls, with any accuracy in reality.

All of those things together had done more than enough to fuel his paranoia that there was something unnatural about this festival, hell, this whole situation, but Sugu had been enjoying herself so much that he hadn't dared to tell her they should get the hell out of there because everything was going abnormally perfect. Disappointing her aside, it would make him look as if he was mad.

Still…no, it made no sense, but…was it possible this was all because of…?

"Onii-chan?" blinking in surprise, Kazuto turned to look towards the smiling form of his adoptive sister, a healthy blush on her face as she hugged her oversized stuffed toy closer to herself. "I just wanted to say…thanks."

"Eh?"

"For these last few weeks, I mean." continued Suguha while slightly burying her mouth in her bear's head. "I…felt that things had gotten very cold between us these last few years and I thought we had just started to… drift apart, you know? That we had grown up faster than most and we had just stopped being interested in being with the other…I even started to think you had started to prefer those games of yours over me…"

"Su-Sugu…" muttered the boy with awkwardness, wondering why he felt guilty…and as if his heart was beating unusually fast.

"But you showed me this month that you really do still care." softly continued the young kendoka, raising her head to give him the brightest smile he had ever seen on her face, at the very moment fireworks just SO happened to go off in the background. "So, thanks for being such an amazing person, Onii-chan."

A strange sound filled Kazuto's ears, like nothing he had heard before. It was as if someone had tried to fuse the chiming of a bell, the snapping of a camera and the sound of glass breaking into a single thing, the 'image' of a smiling Suguha clad in a kimono and hugging her plushie with fireworks on the back somehow being engraved into his soul while the usual 'Time Freeze' of his 'Choices' triggered.

 **[Special Event 'Festival Date' cleared! You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Suguha!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Awkward Siblings' has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Lovey Dovey Siblings'!]**

What.

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement 'Main Heroine: Get!'! You gained +2 in Wisdom!]**

 **['CG Gallery' has been Unlocked! 'Sugu & Fireworks' was added to the gallery!]**

What?

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement: 'Lovely Memories'! You gained +1 in Charm!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have completed the 'Tutorial'! The ability to unlock more Routes has been unlocked!]**

 **[Congratulations! The description for the Skill 'To Protect that Smile' has been unlocked!]**

What?!

 **[To Protect that Smile] (Currently Active): Warps Reality in your favor whenever it's Truly needed to make one of your Heroines happy (Cannot be willingly activated. Only triggers when your Heroine's sake demands it). As long as it's to see them smile, problems will be dealt with so simply they may as well be off-screened and situations that can increase their happiness will be created/handled.**

Kazuto suddenly felt extremely small, cold sweat covering his body and his face deadly pale as the full implications of everything he had just been notified of settled over him, just as the world once again started moving.

Then, the firework's sound reached them and Suguha squeaked in surprise, all but throwing herself at him, somehow not letting go of her teddy bear but instead having it somehow press against her back so her face was smothered against his chest, her arms hanging from around his neck.

"A-ah…so-sorry, Onii-chan, I wasn't expecting that…" mumbled the young kendoka, while her adopted brother was very aware of the warmth coming from her kimono-clad body.

"N-no problem, S-S-Sugu…u-uhm, a-aren't you going to let go already?" stammered the black-haired boy with a weird mix of terror and hope, looking down towards the girl's face.

Her eyes were half-closed and there was a healthy blush (Which he now realized may not have always been 'embarrassment' as he had thought) covering her as she all but rubbed her cheeks against him.

"That…startled me more than I thought. Can I stay like this until we get back down?"

The gamer was unable to verbally answer, barely giving a shaky nod with his pale face, but Suguha clearly took it as a complete affirmation as she rested herself placidly against his body.

Within Kazuto's mind, however, utter chaos, fear, and hysteria warred a battle to see which one was the first to overwhelm his mind as the revelations and realizations of the last minute fully sank into him.

First, his 'superpower' was a thousand times scarier and not 'harmless' at all like he had thought. Forget about stopping time, it had _created an entire festival out of nowhere (_ And made sure NO ONE found it strange) just for him and Sugu to have the perfect date (Oh Gods, now he realized it…this had totally been a date!).

Second, its scope went beyond anything he had imagined and it had only been 'locked' while letting him, apparently, fully 'learn' how to use it, unknowingly using Suguha as the 'testing subject'.

Third and directly related to that last thought…he _may_ , without intending to, have made his adoptive little sister/cousin develop a serious crush on him with his Reality-Bending Dating Simulator superpower.

A whimper escaped his mouth, but Suguha was too busy being half-asleep against him to hear him, even as he resisted the urge to scream in despair.

Why hadn't he taken this more seriously, dammit?!

* * *

 **The Next Day…**

"See you later, Onii-chan! I'm off to practice!" happily called Suguha from the entrance while giving him a bright smile, which no longer brought warm satisfaction to the nervous-looking black-haired boy. "Let's make dinner together tonight like you said yesterday, okay?"

"Su-sure, see you later…" mumbled the gamer even as he waved goodbye to his adoptive sister, who all but skipped out of the house, barely resisting the urge of bashing his head against a wall the moment she left his sight. "Fuck, how do I fix that now…?"

Those haunting thoughts accompanied Kazuto as he made his way back to his room, grabbed his Nerve Gear and put it on while lying on his bed, trying to keep himself positive.

Okay, so, yes, maybe he had grossly underestimated and misunderstood what his power could do, all the implications of which now openly terrified him, but it wasn't as if he had actually brainwashed Sugu into liking him (He hoped). Plus, all he had to do was make sure he didn't keep raising anymore 'Flags' with her and stop gathering Affection Points and things wouldn't escalate out of his control. Also, given his situation as an anti-social gamer, that hadn't really changed, powers or not, he was in no danger to find girls that he would end up accidentally triggering Flags with or turning into routes, so things were still well within his control

With all of that in mind, the black-haired boy nodded to himself, now much calmer, and muttered the two words that would completely 'doom' him to give the middle finger at every single one of those expectations.

"Link Start!"

Several hours later, Kirito the Swordsman was staring blankly at the unnatural form of Kayaba Akihiko's avatar as it finished the 'Tutorial' of Sword Art Online, leaving the remaining 9787 players alive standing like frozen idiots in the Town of Beginnings main plaza.

However, unlike in many other realities, he didn't rush off running after grabbing Klein's hand, in a hurry to get out of there, no.

Here, he shocked the bandana-wearing man at his side by falling to his knees and banging his head against the ground, repeatedly.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit…"

"Who-woah, dude, what's wrong?!"

"Why did I tempt Fate?! First the weird power and now the supernatural plot?! I didn't ask for this, dammit!"

"Ki-Kirito, I know this is shocking, but get a hold of yourse…!"

"Did you say Kirito?"

Confused, Klein turned around, even as Kirito shakily raised his face from the ground to look at a dark blonde girl (Or maybe her hair was light brown?) with brown eyes and a cloak, looking down dubiously at his (Right now) pathetic form.

"…Kii-bou?"

"…Argo…?" started asking the black-haired boy…before his face lost all color, just like the world around him, as everything came to a stop and 3 hauntingly familiar screens appeared before him.

 **A-[…is that really you? Thank heavens…my life has light again]**

 **B-[…is that you? God, you're a lot shorter than I thought…]**

 **C-[…is it you? Could you please help me get up?]**

In the frozen time, no one could hear the gamer screaming and running away from the plaza, his despair and denial-filled voice echoing into the unmoving virtual world.

…it would only take him 30 minutes to remember that time wouldn't keep moving (And he would be 'teleported' back there) anyway if he didn't press a Choice.

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Mixing Action Plots and Cheap Romance!

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Ahahahah, god, I can't believe I actually went and wrote that XD

So, there it is, people. That's the prologue of this little April Fools' idea for this year :P Kirito becomes not 'The Gamer' but 'The Eroge Protagonist' :P Talk about drawing the short end of the stick…depending on your point of view, of course XP

As it should be obvious for anyone who has read the original manhwa or some of the fics inspired by it, this Kirito's 'interface' is a cheap and way more abridged rip-off of that one, meant to be funnier and less complex (And based on Dating Sims instead of RPGs), more to just have a clarification of what he can do than a constant thing that has to be copy/pasted and grows more and more difficult/tiring to read every time (Which is my main problem with most Gamer fics).

Don't expect epic battles, overly complicated plots in this story. Expect Kirito to try and keep a grip on his sanity while this power [LIFE] and [DEATH] gave him makes his already natural chick-magnet nature go up to eleven and try to not cross the line between selfish and suicidal, all the while trying to both not 'unwillingly make girls like him' (SNORT) but also 'to not disappoint/reject others'…or jumping the line repeatedly like a children's game, who knows :P? (With more time-skips than anyone would want too!)

Armed with the power of literally off-screening the plot for the sake of his Waifus, but completely unwilling to actually get said Waifus in the first place because of the weird spin in his nature having this powers has caused him, can Kirito get a Good End when everything is said and done OwO? Who knows!

Also, and as the cherry on top so that you know how utterly crazy this idea is, this is not going to follow Canon SAO's storyline…but the **SAO Gameverse** one OwO Those who have played it should know what that means. 'Poor' Kirito XD

Anyway, that has been all for today, and hopefully this doesn't go as out of control as Lusus Naturae did last year, I need to keep focusing in OPG:CoF, after all (Did you see the shameless mini-references to it at the beginning?). See you all soon!

Until next time, this is Saint, signing off!


	2. Scene 1: Mixing Action and Romance!

Once again, Saint here bringing you more! But first of all, seriously, let me just put this in perspective.

Almost 60 reviews. Over 150 Followers. Over 120 favorites. All of it in less than 4 days and most of it in the first 24 hours of it being posted!

Did you guys really like this thing that much XD?! I admit it even made me a bit scared, it's the most positive response any fanfic of mine has ever gotten on its prologue chapter, and I'm a bit fearful of being unable to live up to the hype it created…

But those doubts aside, THANKS a lot for it, people. You're all awesome and I hope to not disappoint you at all with this mad idea :3

Some things that I would like to point out among the reviews, though: Yes, 'To Protect that Smile' IS broken as hell…but Kirito has not only no control over it, he also has no desire of actively using it and, most important, he can't control how it works once it Triggers, not to mention it requires the active presence of one of his Waifus to even work in the first place :P So no, he can't use it cheat death or solo everything in his way (As much as he would probably prefer that…he's not 'The Gamer', sadly).

Also, to the single reviewer that practically begged for this 'to be a KiriSuna fic and no harem'…you haven't read any of my works before and/or completely ignored the whole premise of the prologue, right O,O?

That out of the way, some recognition now! Immense thanks to Pikanet128 for this fic's new and awesome cover :D Seriously, dude, you're the best. You can find links both to a complete version of it and to this story's all new TvTrope's page (Fastest one in getting one too!) on my profile :3

And without more delay, enjoy the chapter already XP!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 1:** **Mixing Action Plots and Cheap Romance!**

 **November 6th, 2022. Horunka Village, Aincrad. Inside an Inn, 21:30…**

On the small village of Horunka, night had already fallen and given everything an honestly peaceful and relaxed atmosphere, completely at odds with the terror and despair that consumed most players trapped within SAO, still back at the Town of Beginnings.

However, Kirito the swordsman (As selfish as that sounded) couldn't really care about any of that as he let himself fall on a chair and allowed his face to slam on the wooden table, feeling a terrible headache and the vague need to jump off the Floating Castle.

And the playful (If slightly concerned) voice that came after someone sat before him didn't exactly help as much as she intended.

Of course, it wasn't really her fault, as there was no way she knew that she was _the source_ of his current state.

"Geez, Kii-bou, I know it has been a rough day, but do you really need to look as if the world was ending? Honestly, I expected better from you…"

Raising his head to deadpan at the girl sitting before him, the boy actually had to suppress a weird mix between a whimper and a groan, as his eyes once again came in contact with the source of his current mood.

Namely, the invisible (For everyone but him) words floating about the Info Broker's head.

 **[Izawa Shiori: 'Trolling Information Broker']**

 **[Relationship Status: Best Beta Buddies]**

 **[Affection Points: 66/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: You only know Shiori (Until you read this, that is) by her in-game name of 'Argo', also known as 'The Rat' during Sword Art Online's Beta thanks to the whiskers she started to have in her face since Floor 2 (And that you never knew the origin of). You two easily became friends out of some Gaming-sense-of-honor, in which you both played the role perfectly: You the reckless unstoppable swordsman and she the mischievous and vicious information dealer. While some people said she would sell even her grandma for the right amount, she's actually a very caring girl who has almost as much problems as you do making actual friends, hence why she values your friendship so much and why she's currently so concerned about you, thinking you may have lost it or something]**

"For the last time Argo, I'm…fine, really. I don't you to…babysit me or anything." lamely explained the gamer while trying very hard to look at his friend (And nothing more!) in the eyes, ignoring the screen above her.

"Yeaaah, the fact that you're still sounding as if you had an anvil on your shoulders despite having just gotten that fancy new sword convinces me of the contrary." drawled out Argo while pointing to the boy's back, where his all-new Anneal Blade, arguably the best weapon you could get in the 1st Floor, rested. "Look, you don't have to act all tough with me, Kii-bou. This whole situation is a nightmare, I know that, and you don't have to pretend it hasn't affected you when it clearly has. Hell, even I'm not feeling exactly chirpy right now, and I'm sure _this retard_ here didn't help too much with that…"

As she said those last words, the girl sent a glare towards the last figure 'sitting' on the table…or more like, the gaged and tied-up boy who was trying very pointlessly to get free of the rope binding him, and that didn't seem any older than Kirito was.

Said guy with slightly long brown hair was named Coper, a fellow Beta Tester, and the genius that had tried to trick the two of them with a friendly façade when it truth he was a selfish piece of shit willing to do anything to survive, including waiting for the black-clad swordsman to get the Quest Item needed to get the Anneal Blade and then try to trigger a trap which would have swarmed them all with monsters to steal it after they were dead.

Putting aside all the holes in his plan born out of desperation and ignorance (As he would have been unable to get away from the blind plant-enemies of the Quest with his 'Hiding' Skill), Kirito was sure the poor Coper didn't know how screwed he had been from the very beginning.

Namely, that he had tried to pull a fast one on him when he had the sneakiest and most well-informed Beta Tester backing him up, as Argo had decided to 'follow' him after their meeting and his small episode back in the Town of Beginnings.

The black-haired boy didn't know how that had happened when he had chosen Option C, which had been the most neutral one. Then again, in hindsight that was probably the most appropriate one to give Argo, and it did nothing to convince her he wasn't 'more affected by the whole Death Game thing' than he pretended.

Which wasn't true, really. If anything, seeing the notifications about her 'Route' having been unlocked, seeing how high it already was just (He assumed) from their friendship from the Beta had freaked him out way more than the deadly trap they were all now in had. His hurry for getting out of there after that (With a hasty apology to Klein) wasn't apparently the right choice, though, as she had followed swiftly after him all the way to Horunka, then tagged along for the Anneal Blade Quest and having been key in solving the Coper incident.

Poor guy didn't even get close to try his stupid stunt when Argo had tricked him into dropping his weapon by pretending a Mob had spawned behind him. It was, no doubt, the saddest way of being busted Kirito had ever seen. The fact that there were still monsters around and Coper was clearly terrified out of his mind when Argo pointed her dagger at him, then was convinced to tie himself up (Not even stopping to think the girl had no real way of threatening him without her cursor turned Orange) had only further reinforced the gamer's idea that this guy had to have been one of the Worst Beta Testers ever.

A part of him did wonder where the hell had the Info Broker gotten the rope and the gag from in just a few hours of game before Kayaba's announcement, though, but the bit of him that still liked his strained sanity decided it would be better not to ask.

"Coper's retarded stunt has nothing to do with my mood Argo, neither is it any sort of chronical depression I have fallen into because of this mess." tried to convince her the gamer, though his tone didn't sound very convincing despite how honest he was actually being. "And can you really waste your time babysitting me? Shouldn't you be out there or back at Town of Beginnings collecting all the info you can?"

The boy's words may have sounded rude, but truthfully he really wanted his hooded friend to get away from him for her own sake. It was bad enough he felt as if he had violated her privacy just by his power's 'passive' effect having given him not only her real name but also a mini-biography about the type of person she actually was, Kirito didn't want to take the risk it could do anything else to her.

Having made his little sister (Even if she was actually his cousin) get a crush on him so painfully obvious he felt like smacking his head against the table again for not noticing it earlier was one more serious problem than the gamer wanted to deal with in a lifetime, especially after getting 'trapped' in such a bizarre and surreal situation just after realizing it (Cursed MC Status!). How unfair it would be for Argo that some crazy Reality-bending superpower he had little control over made her fall for him if she stuck around aside, he honestly didn't want to deal with even more headaches.

"Hoh? Are my ears deceiving me or it sounds like you're trying to get rid of little old me?" playfully asked the info broker with a small grin, the black-haired boy wondering if he would have been able to notice the worry she was clearly trying to hide if his power hadn't all but told him about it beforehand. "Why, I'm hurt, Kii-bou! I thought we had something special, you and me, but if you're really so eager of losing sight of me I guess you have finally realized how pointless is to try to win my heart for your benefit…"

Kirito couldn't stop himself from snorting at the pseudo-irony his fellow Beta Tester had spouted without even knowing it.

"As if I would ever try to do that."

"…really? Say, Kii-bou, you know I'm still a girl, right? And that such things can sound very offensive for a poor maiden like me?" retorted Argo with a smile that was much more 'dangerous' than her previous one, but that didn't seem to even faze the swordsman before her. "What's the matter? Am I not good enough for you?"

"What? No!" quickly denied the gamer while waving a hand to the side, his head still too much of a mess to let him do more than directly react to his friend's trap-question. "If anything, I'm saying it because of the exact opposite."

"…eh?" was all that the girl could say in response, blinking in clear confusion and surprise.

"Do I need to spell it out for you, Argo? You're too good for me, one doesn't need to be a genius to see that." explained Kirito with a seemingly tired tone, quickly looking straight into Argo's eyes as he kept talking. "You're amazing, resourceful, able to keep your cool and smile under any situation, and the most reliable person I have ever known. Hell, if it wasn't for you, I bet this idiot's stunt would have ended either with me or him (Most likely because of his screw-up) dead, yet with you here to save my ass everything was handled as if it was a menial thing. And regardless of how your avatar looked before or in the Beta, now that I see your real face I can shamelessly declare you're a beautiful girl. I'm sure you have lots of people around you in real life, and if you don't is that you're just too good for them. So, yes, it's so surprising I think you're too good for me? If anything, I would have thought it was obvious…"

As he slowly trailed off, the black-haired boy finally realized that, at some point during his surprisingly long speech, he had reached out and grabbed Argo's hands between his, also leaned forward over the table, with his elbows resting on it, to look even closer into Argo's eyes. Also, that at some point so much red had entered his wide-eyed friend's face as she stared at him that it seemed Cardinal was about to run out of resource to generate her blush.

"Ki…Kirito…"

"A-Argo…?"

 **[That was the most romantic thing anyone has ever told her! You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Shiori!]**

 **[Congratulations! You left a girl speechless with your sincerity! You gain +1 in Charm!]**

 _…are you being fucking serious right now?!_

The still-tied-up Coper rolled his eyes and loudly mumbled something unintelligible, but that the gamer was, for some reason, very sure was something along the lines of 'Get a room already, you two!', and that seemed enough to snap Argo out of her trance, the girl released the cutest and most girly squeal Kirito had ever heard, a sound he had never imagined his cool-headed and jokester friend could produce, before she all but bolted away from him, pulling her hood so hard to try and (Poorly) hide her blush that she seemed about to tear the cloth item apart.

"We-well, lo-look at the time, it's SO late right now! You we-were right before, Kii-bou, and you se-seem more than recovered enough to look for yourself s-so I will be going no!" all-but-shouted the Info Broker, her usual cool and composure shot to hell as she sprinted out of the Inn. "Ma-make sure to message me later, though!"

"…how the hell…did I do that?" questioned the boy to no one, actually looking a little scared, as he had somehow turned the most unflappable, shameless and playful girl he knew (Not that he knew many, though) into a blushing/stuttering mess with just Words, no sign of his 'Skill' having been activated for it. "Wait a minute…don't tell me…?!"

 **[Dating Stats]**

 **Charm: 7**

 **Wisdom: 5**

 **Aura: ?**

Staring at the Menu he had brought up in a hurry, the gamer made his best effort to not gulp in fear. Certainly, it was _way_ higher than it had been a month ago when he had gotten his 'Dating Sim Power', and he had only really deeply interacted with Sugu during that time, but…there was no way that such a small increase could allow him to do THAT to a girl close enough to him by just talking, right?

Right?!

"HMMPH! Hmbbm?!" groaned the still gagged Coper, probably not in answer to his question, but demanding to be released at the now apparently disturbed boy.

"Oh God, this is worse than I thought…I need to try and interact as little as possible with Argo from now on!" screamed Kirito while standing up, an almost haunted look in his eyes. "If I'm not careful enough I may end up in bed with her or something worse!"

Ignoring the 'What the fuck?'-look the failed-indirect-murderer sent him at his, from his point of view, nonsensical declaration, the gamer stood up and walked out of the Inn, ready to forego sleep that night and get all the way to Tolbana if needed, just in case Argo 'regretted' having run away all of a sudden.

Coper was so busy staring in disbelief he realized too late they had left him in there still bound and gagged, with no one but the NPCs around. Muffled screaming ensued.

It would take 2 more days before any other Players ventured to Horunka and found the shaking and clearly out-of-it form of the boy in the Inn. After he was unbound, he would silently march himself back to the Town of Beginnings, swearing to never go out again.

No one cared.

* * *

 **December 2nd, 2022. Aincrad, 1st Floor Labyrinth. One of the many hallways, 3:55…**

"Walking through a dark and empty dungeon filled with lizardmen and kobolds at an insanely early hour instead of sleeping…yep, that's my life now. The protagonist here, ladies and gentlemen."

Chuckling bitterly at no one, Kirito realized it was probably not a good sign for his sanity that he had started to talk alone or to refer to himself as 'The Protagonist', but honestly, between having to squeeze his friend like mad to create enough (And believable enough) excuses to not met with Argo during the last month and the fact that, despite that, he had still somehow managed to gain a few Affection Points with her just through messages, he was barely hanging on.

It didn't help at all when he had seen the several and sudden 'changes' Suguha's 'Title' had suffered since he got trapped there, first the first day…and again yesterday, together with their 'Relationship Status', which was part of the reason he was there, killing every Mob that stood in his way as a way to vent. Because…

 **[Kirigaya Suguha: 'Confused Little Sister']**

 **[Relationship Status: Lovey Dovey 'Siblings'/Cousins]**

 **[Affection Points: 1/100]**

…it seemed like Midori had decided it was a good idea to reveal the truth about his adoption to Suguha because of his situation. Great job mom, because that's exactly what you tell an emotionally strained 14-years-old when the person most important to her (And how he felt guilty it was his own fault that was 100% true) could die any day. He just hoped it wouldn't lead to her doing anything crazy, but the fact that all of it had somehow gained him an Affection Point with her didn't really inspire much confide…

The sound of mobs growling and dying snapped the gamer out of his inner ramblings, making him look around in confusion, wondering who and for what reason could be in there (Besides him) at that unholy hour.

A hooded form slaughtering lizardmen with a rapier in the most impressively executed 'Linear' Skill he had ever seen was his answer, the boy actually pausing to admire the grace and amazing speed of the mysterious player, clearly a female if the skirt he could see when she rushed and her hood flew slightly was anything to go by.

Deciding it would probably be best to not bother them, Kirito was about to turn around and walk away…when the world suddenly lost color and everything around him when fully silent, actually startling the gamer, as he hadn't seen the phenomenon being repeated since the day he got stuck in SAO (Mainly because he had avoided all direct interaction with Argo, really).

When he gazed down at the 3 Choices that had appeared, though, something that was new caught his eyes and made him feel strangely uneasy.

 **You see a mysterious girl with a rapier killing mobs. You…**

 **A-[Walk away]**

 **B-[Stay to watch]**

 **C-[Rush to help finish the Mobs]**

 ***Warning: Choosing the Wrong Choice will forever Block this Heroine's Route.**

Dumbfounded, the swordsman wondered what was most shocking, that there was actually a way for him to avoid romancing random girls he didn't even know or that the 'game' was actually telling him how.

However…glancing at the choices and the 'Warning' made him feel strangely uneasy. The fact that there had not been such an Option with Argo could maybe be explained, but that it hadn't been there with Sugu, the one whose 'Route' should have (In his eyes) the easier to avoid, set him on edge. Especially because the 'Wrong Choice' clearly seemed to be the one that would get him out of there, the one where he left the area.

And the girl, alone at 4 AM, in a dungeon filled with monsters, monsters which she was fighting…

Almost without thinking, Kirito rushed to the girl's side, maneuvering around the lizardmen to stare at her up and down, ignoring her pretty and serious face in favor of looking at the rapier in her hand, seeing the countless cracks on the cheap and store-bought weapon, a more than obvious sign of how its Durability was about to run out.

Cursing to everything under the heavens, the gamer slammed the Choice C without any more hesitation, just a slightly annoyed feeling, even as he felt himself being 'teleported' back to where he had been and then how his hand quickly reached for his Anneal Blade as time started moving again, rushing forward and executing a 'Horizontal' Skill.

He was already there and cutting the lizardman behind the surprised girl in half when her rapier snapped and broke down into polygons, leaving her at the mercy of her enemies…or at least that's would have had happened if he hadn't Aggroed the hell out of them and quickly proceeded to make short work of their virtual lives, all under the shocked rapier-user's gaze.

Finally done with the enemies, Kirito turned around as he sheathed his blade, staring right at the hooded girl's eyes.

"That was close. You okay?"

"Wha…? Where did you even come f…?" and that was as far as she went before she stumbled forward right into his arms, unconscious.

The boy deadpanned at her position, unable to believe it.

 **[Asuna Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Yuuki Asuna!]**

 **[Your current status with Asuna has changed to 'Undesired Friends'!]**

…stupid dating game-like power.

Suppressing a sigh, the gamer grabbed the beautiful girl's body and carried her bridal style, towards the closest Safe Zone, idly noticing her long chestnut hair (Her hood had fallen off when he put her on his arms) and, despite his best attempts not to, the information he now could see above her.

 **[Yuuki Asuna: 'Hopeless Fencer']**

 **[Relationship Status: Undesired Friends (?)]**

 **[Affection Points: 0/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: Yuuki Asuna had never played a videogame, let alone a VR one, in her life before SAO, hence why she reflexively wrote her real name for her avatar. She's the daughter of an important CEO and a strict mother, and was raised her whole life to be the perfect example of a 'Proper High-Society Girl'. Deciding to use her brother's Nerve Gear on a whim the day SAO launched quickly became the 'stupid decision' she regretted the most in her life, and after weeks of being coped inside an Inn in the Town of Beginnings her emotionally broken state led her to decide it was a good idea to come out in the Field and fight endlessly until she died once she couldn't keep going]**

Gulping deeply, Kirito was, for once, very glad about his power's disregard for the privacy of girls. It had let him know in advance he was dealing with someone suicidal, after all, which meant that his first idea of waiting for her to wake up, ask how she was and then get the hell out of there, was no longer an option.

There was no way in hell he could live with himself if he abandoned her and she went and got herself killed just because she had no hope of escaping the game, risks of his powers 'romancing' her be damned.

…God, he really had become the protagonist of some Dating Sim with a convoluted action/fantasy plot, hadn't he?

"Guh…what…?" mumbled Asuna while her eyes opened, looking around at the Safe Zone in confusion. "Where…?"

"The closest Safe Zone the dungeon had. I carried you here after you fainted." informed the black-haired boy from the opposite side of the small area they were in, leaning against the wall in the perfect position so that she saw him right away, startling the girl.

"The boy from before…? And…carried…? Wait, does that mean you brought me here in your arms?!" quickly shouted the girl with a bit more life in her eyes than her previous words, her arms almost unconsciously reaching to cover herself when she noticed her hood was down.

"Well, I could have dragged you through the ground if you preferred that, but I think my method was the best way." dryly answered the gamer with a roll of his eyes, before his gaze sharpened almost scarily as he directed it right at the rapier-user, who froze under it. "Why were you doing that?"

"I…don't…"

"Don't try to lie, by the way. As amazing as your moves were, I could notice right away the despair in your strikes. The emptiness. You weren't trying to win, just to fight until you dropped dead." smoothly lied Kirito while uncrossing his arms and walking forward, unable to believe how convincing he was sounding. "Why?"

"I…what does it matter to you? We're all going to die in here anyway." shot back the girl with a cold tone…or tried to, because she couldn't help but look away once the boy was standing just before her, unable to meet his seemingly bottomless gaze. "I just wanted to go out fighting rather than wasting away…"

"…that's just a step less sad than staying behind doing nothing thinking we're all going to die." mercilessly replied the gamer while dramatically giving his back to the shocked rapier-user, unsheathing his blade and raising it above his head to stare at its edge. "It's also an insult to every single player risking their lives to try and clear the game right now. With the talent you show, having no faith in that we can get out of here makes you nothing but a coward."

"Wha-what would you know?!" shouted Asuna while shooting to her feet, glaring at Kirito's back with anger, tears on the corner of her eyes. "Do you even know how I felt this last month knowing that I'm going to…?!"

"I have a little sister waiting for me in the real world. Mom is almost never home, so we take turns making food and cleaning. Lately, we have finally started to get along after years of awkward distance." interrupted the swordsman while giving her a sideways look, both the words and the pressure in the single eye being shown to her all but paralyzing the girl. "I know very well what is to be scared of dying, Fencer-san, and I'm terrified to no end because the most dangerous thing I have ever done before this was riding a bicycle to the outskirts of my city…but I also have more than enough reasons to want to get out of here. Don't you have any?"

"I…" looking down, the rapier-user's eyes were wide, the exhaustion from almost 3 days straight in the dungeon and the strength behind the gamer's words having left her stunned.

The sound of something materializing and being thrown before her snapped her out of it, her gaze moving down to see the brilliant new rapier lying there.

"If you do, grab it and come to Tolbana. There is going to be a Strategy Meeting for defeating the 1st Floor Boss. That thing is way better than those cheap store-bought ones you were using and, honestly, we need all the help we can if we hope to pull this off and showing everyone that we CAN, indeed, get out of this game." coolly declared Kirito before, slowly, starting to walk away, sword still in hand, Asuna's eyes following his every move. "Name is Kirito, by the way. Remember it, because I don't think we will ever meet again if you plan on continuing down that hopeless path of yours."

Not saying another word, the black-haired boy abandoned the Safe Zone, heading for the labyrinth's entrance. Not even 10 seconds later, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps following him and he had to suppress the need to smirk.

Holy fuck had that been awesome! Those Dating Stats had let him take charge of that conversation like a boss, even if he had totally bullshitted more than half of it!

And even as he saw Asuna start to walk beside him, not saying a word, he couldn't help but felt happy about his stupid power for the first time in over a month.

"…I'm not going to thank you." mumbled the chestnut-haired girl from under her newly raised hood.

"Wasn't expecting you to, Fencer-san." nonchalantly replied the gamer while closing his eyes and letting the earlier smirk finally appear on his face as he walked just a step before her. "Just knowing you have my back on the way is more than enough thanks.

 **[You gained 5 Affection Points with Heroine Asuna!]**

Kirito had to try very hard to not stumble in his step and fall flat on the ground, miraculously managing it. Just behind him, Asuna had drawn her hood lower, trying to hide the blush on her face.

…and now, once again, he regretted everything about this power.

* * *

"…well, the guy sure knows how to work a crowd." mumbled the black-haired boy later that day, watching the gathered group of players sitting around Tolbana's amphitheater, as they intently heard what the one who had called them, Diavel, had to say. "There are way more players than I thought it would…"

"You're not the only one surprised about that, Kii-bou." came a familiar voice from beside the gamer, almost making him squeak in surprise as his head whipped to the side and came face to face with Argo's grinning face, now adorned with the same style of whiskers she used to have in the Beta. "Then again, maybe it's actually something about Fate what has drawn so many people here!"

"A-Argo?!" frantically whispered the boy while resisting the urge to run away, unable to believe the girl had found him even after a month of him evading her. "What are you doing here?!"

"Looking for you. I knew that, despite how 'busy' you were, there was no way you would miss this meeting." shamelessly admitted the info broker while Kirito resisted the urge to curse. "But really, the fact that you have been avoiding me aside…who is the cutie with you?"

"…do you mean me?" spoke Asuna (Who had been sitting beside the boy) with a raised eyebrow, staring at the exchange with clear confusion.

"Yeah, who else? Also, wearing a hood to hide how sexy I am is my thing!" joked Argo with mock-anger, further confusing the chestnut-haired girl and causing the gamer to slam his face into his palms. "My, Kii-bou, are you maybe trying to replace me with…?"

"Wait a minute! I want to say something!" suddenly shouted a loud and annoying voice, interrupting the 'conversation' between the strange trio and making them turn around in time to see a guy with cactus-like hairstyle standing up. "There is a group of people here that needs to apologize to all of us!"

Under normal circumstances, Kirito would have just been slightly nervous/guilty at Kibaou's following speech about the 'selfishness' of Beta Testers. In his current state of trying very hard to not go crazy because of his 'superpower', it would have just annoyed him. However…seeing Argo's eyes narrowing before she looked to the side in clear dissatisfaction truly irked him, especially because he knew not a single Beta Tester had been putting more effort into trying to help others than the whiskered girl. Hearing that piece of shit badmouthing her work and all but ordering her (Albeit not directly) to go down there, give up everything she had, and apologize for nothing truly made him feel…

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

…oh, fuck.

"Your name is Kibaou, right? Do you know what this is?" started to say a tall and dark-skinned man named Agil…before everyone's attention was drawn towards someone near the upper part of the amphitheater standing up with a panicked look in his eyes, the two girls at his sides staring at him in confusion. "Uh?"

"Run away! Get out of there, quick!"

"What? Why should we…?"

Whatever else the cactus-haired man wanted to say died in his lips when, out of nowhere, a distant scream grew in intensity and some sort of grey sphere that looked like an abnormally perfect rock came rolling down from the edge of the area, many players screaming and jumping out of the way as it fell down and crashed brutally against Kibaou, dragging and then pinning him to the lowest steps.

Silence ensued while everyone watched with morbid fascination as the man's limbs twitched from under the not-rock, only the knowledge that they were inside a Safe Zone and as such his life wasn't in danger stopping them from worrying…when a side of the strange object 'opened', letting a wide-eyed and panting bandana-wearing man out, all but collapsing on the amphitheater's floor.

"Wo-woah…heh, heh, it fucking worked! I went through the entire forest without losing a single HP thanks to that thing! Hah, and the others thought I was crazy…" laughed the red-haired man while standing up, blinking at recognizing one of the people looking at him. "Oh, hi there Kirito! Long time no see!"

"Klein." deadpanned the black-haired boy, still trying to wrap his head around the random development. "What the hell?"

"Ah well, you see, me and my pals were training on the opposite edge of the forest that surrounds this town, the one closest to Tolbana, when we saw this weird thing hidden under a couple of suspiciously fallen trees, with a Quest Mark above it!" proudly explained Klein while puffing out his chest, even as Agil poked the opened rock-sphere with his axe and then looked down worriedly at the flailing limbs of Kibaou. "It said that, if one could ride it all the way from one side of the forest to the other, they could keep it! The rest thought it was a trap but I had seen things like that in some old videogames so I know it had to be some super awesome and secret vehicle in disguise, so I got in, started rolling…and voila! I'm here! And now it's mine, ahahahah…!"

"Ehm, yes, that's…awesome, but…could you please get your 'transport' off Kibaou-san…?" growled Diavel while he, Agil and a couple random guys tried unsuccessfully to move the sphere off their fellow player, struggling against the strange thing.

"Uh…? Oh shit, I landed on someone?! So-sorry about that, man, the thing won't move unless someone gets in, let me…"

Kirito tuned out the rest of the conversation as he slowly sat down, his mind once again too busy trying to process the absurdity (And terrifying scope) of his power…and also the fact that it had triggered just by him feeling Kibaou had been insulting Argo, albeit indirectly, which only made it much more dangerous.

And speaking of the Info Broker, he wondered what her take on all of this would be like…

"…I have never heard of that Quest. Wonder if it can be repeated? Also, what are the limitations of that 'vehicle' thing…?"

…of course that would be what she was worried about. At least Asuna looked properly freaked out/totally confused by the scene before them, meaning he was surrounded by at least one kinda-sane person…even if said person had been trying to fight alone until she literally dropped dead until a few hours ago…okay, maybe his power was actually a weirdness-magnet too.

A bit less than half an hour later, after they managed to move the sphere off Kibaou, got him to stop accusing Klein of being a 'filthy Beta Tester', stopped the mayhem that ensued when Klein slugged him in the face while defending Beta Testers, and a tired Diavel managed to give off an abridged version of what they could expect from the Boss Battle, Kirito and his two female companions could be seen walking away from the amphitheater, one with a calculating look, one with a puzzled one and the other looking as if he wanted the day to be over already.

"So, where exactly are you staying at, Kii-bou?" asked Argo once she was apparently done with whatever inner musings she was into, her gaze following her fellow Beta Tester's every move. "I mean, I assume you have a lodging of some kind here by now, but I haven't seen you at the Inn at all, so…"

"I rented the second floor of that small farmhouse near the edge of the town." tiredly answered the black-haired boy while looking towards the whiskered girl, whose eyes lit up in recognition. "I assume you remember it from the Beta?"

"The one with the awesome bath?" asked the Info Broker with a massive grin, neither her nor the gamer noticing how the chestnut-haired girl behind them suddenly froze at the word. "Of course I do! Mind letting your sexy Onee-san a turn on it?"

"Sure, but only after I have…"

Kirito's reflexive attempt to tease Argo back was brutally interrupted when he felt a hand clamping on his shoulder, making him blink and look back, together with the whiskered girl, to see Asuna looking straight at him as if she was a wanderer lost in the desert that had just found an oasis.

"Did you just say that …you have a bath?"

Not much time later, the rapier-user could be seen sinking herself in a bathtub's water, utter bliss in her face as she enjoyed the sensation of the virtual bath.

 **[You have made her experience joy she didn't think she could again! You gained 5 Affection Points with Heroine Asuna!]**

 _"Okay, seriously, why is it so easy to raise Flags with her? Was she that desperate for even the simplest comforts?"_ mentally mumbled the gamer as he lied on his bed, trying very hard to not look towards the closed door leading towards the bath where a teenage girl was naked in a bathtub right now. "God, this almost seems like a scene out of an actual Eroge, only not as cra…"

"Nee, Kii-bou, I'm passing." nonchalantly commented Argo while walking into the room, her usual hood off and a towel over her shoulder, shooting him a smile before opening the door to the bathroom (Cue Asuna's shocked scream) and closing it after her, all under the dumbfounded gaze of the black-haired boy.

"Wha-what the hell?! Argo-san?! What are you doing?!"

"Isn't it obvious, girlie? I'm taking a bath! Now please, move a bit to the side or we're going to be quite cramped…"

"Wa-wait a minute, what?!"

"You seriously need to stop repeating 'what' so many times, Asuna-san…nah, you know what? That's too stuffy for two bath-buddies like us! How about you drop the '-san' with me and I just start calling you…Aa-chan?"

"I-I think you're taking things too far, we haven't even known each other for three ho…you're in!"

"See? Was that so bad?"

"Ye-yes, it is! We're almost complete strangers!"

"And there is no better way to solve that than a bit of naked skinship! Plus, you kind of got in the way of my Kii-bou time out of nowhere…"

"Eh?"

"Nothing! Also…woah, I know these are just avatars, but if it's even half as loyal with the real you as it's with mine then you're one hell of a beauty in real life."

"A-ah, thanks? I mean, yo-you're quite pretty too, I gue..HYA!"

"Hmm…quite firm and decent-sized…I can't let my guard down…"

"Wh-why the hell would you do that?!"

"Hmm? Wanna squeeze mine as payback?"

"N-NO!"

"Heh! God, you're just so easy I almost feel like a bully, Aa-chan!"

"Do-don't make fun of me! That's it, take this!"

"Hya! Oh my…you're more daring than I gave you credit for…"

"…wa-wait, Argo-s…just Argo, do-don't go and do anything that…HYA!"

"…must not go in the bath, must not go in the bath, must not go in the back…" endlessly repeated Kirito as he buried himself on his bedsheets, trying to fuse his burning red face with the pillow.

It wasn't the fear of something terrible happening to him as consequence what motivated the mantra, though, but the fear of his power actually making him going into the bath into an 'Event' that he would have no way of escaping to…and that the small part of him that was still a hormonal teenager aware of being trapped in a death trap wouldn't really refuse to, his morality be damned.

And so, it was with great pleasure that he managed to finally fall asleep…only to come face-to-face with Argo's whiskered visage (Looking particularly cute in her sleepwear and with her eyes closed) the moment he woke up.

"…why is she in my bed?" deadpanned the black-haired boy to no one in specific.

"Only two beds. Had to share one. Played Rock, Paper, Scissors with Aa-chan for it." sleepily grumbled the Info Broker without opening her eyes, his 'Stats' being the only thing that prevented the gamer from jumping and screaming in surprise at seeing she was awake.

"…and why didn't you share a bed with _her_ instead?"

"Said she wasn't gonna after last night's shenanigans."

"…okay…but then why is SHE on my bed?" questioned Kirito with a twitching eyebrow while pointing behind him, where a fully asleep Asuna seemed to be unconsciously holding the back of his shirt, a pleased smile on her face making her look cuter than the last time he had seen her sleeping (More like passed out).

"SHE is the one that 'lost', despite me trying hard. Had to wait till she fell asleep before getting in bed." nonchalantly replied Argo without missing a beat.

"…Argo, I think even you should know when you take teasing too far."

"…who says I was teasing?" replied the whiskered girl with a suddenly serious tone, finally opening her eyes and looking straight into his. "I wasn't totally joking yesterday, Kii-bou, I know you have been avoiding me, and now you're going to go fight a Floor Boss. And…if it has to do with what you said that night in Tolbana, then…I want you to know I…don't really think you're…"

"Argo." silenced the boy with a soft tone, putting a finger over her lips and making her heart skip a beat, suddenly painfully aware of how close they were and wondering if his smile had always seemed to almost glitter in her eyes. "I'm not going to die, okay? You should know better than anyone in here that I'm too stubborn to do so. And yes, I have been avoiding you, but believe me, it has nothing to do with what you think. I just…have been trying my best to keep myself alive while not being a hindrance to your work. That's why I still provided you all the info I could in my messages. If it made you felt bad, though…forgive this idiot for his foolishness, my all-knowing lady. I swear it won't happen again."

"…yo-you better." mumbled the Info Broker before burying her face in his chest, resisting the urge to purr when he patted her head softly. "…stay safe, Kii-bou. And bring Aa-chan back in one piece too."

"Heh, if you had seen her fight like I have, you would be asking her that, Argo." replied the gamer with a smile on his face…completely at odds with his inner state.

 _"Holy shit I can't believe I could also bullshit my way through that!"_ nearly-cried the swordsman while idly stroking his friend's hair. _"Things could have gotten bad if I had let her finish that first sentence! I can't let this freaking power continue affecting Argo or anyone I…"_

 **[You completely moved her heart! You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Shiori!]**

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the achievement: 'Headpats are the Key'! You gain +2 in Charm!]**

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement: 'Bed Scene'! You gain +2 in Wisdom!]**

 **[Baths heal the soul! You gained 15 Affection Points with Heroine Asuna!]**

Only the fact that he was still holding Argo in his arms and Asuna was still holding his back stopped the gamer from crying out in despair, suddenly painfully aware of his position and actions.

And seriously, why was it so easy to raise Affection with that girl?!

* * *

Things were supposed to be easy once they parted ways with the Info Broker.

Just head to Tolbana, join the group, head to the dungeon, ignore Diavel's way too obvious attempts at keeping him away from the Boss and putting Kibaou to keep an eye on him, head into the Dungeon, kill the Adds together with Asuna and her amazing fighting ability which she had despite having never played a game or done any similar activity in her life while the main group dealt with the giant angry kobold…all easy.

Which, of course, should have clued him that something was about to go catastrophically wrong. After all, as much as he didn't want to think about it, he had apparently become the protagonist of a Dating Simulator disguised with a fantasy/adventure plot. And the fight against Illfang the Kobold Lord had all the markings of being an 'Important Event', which meant it obviously had to have a dramatic twist at some point…

And it, of course, happened at the worst moment.

"Stay back, I will take care of it!" shouted a confident Diavel while rushing forward just as the Boss started changing weapons, but Kirito completely ignored the victorious look he sent his way in favor of staring towards the blade that the Kobold Lord had just unsheathed.

"Oh, fuck me, that's not a talwar! It's a nodachi!" shouted the gamer with horror even as Asuna finished the last Add they had been fighting against, looking at him in confusion.

"It's not a what?"

"Diavel, run!" screamed the swordsman just as everyone in the room seemed frozen in shock upon seeing Illfang unleashing his brutal omnidirectional Katana Skill, stunning all those that were still relatively close to him and then zeroing on the blue-haired 'Knight', who was unable to react as the massive kobold pushed him back and then charged another skill. "Dammit!"

Roaring at the top of his lungs, Kirito charged forward, despite knowing he wouldn't make it in time. Everyone in the room suddenly seemed to have become morons and wasn't doing anything but standing in place staring as death came towards their so-called 'leader' in the form of a half a ton of angry Kobold Lord, and he had barely covered half the distance between…

Asuna shot past him, like a shooting star. With her unreal speed and abusing the tip he had given her about the Linear Skill, she arrived beside the paralyzed Diavel in time to push him back a couple of steps, just enough to let him off the path of the incoming nodachi…and leaving herself directly on it thanks to her post-Skill cooldown.

Time seemed to screech to a halt in the gamer's eyes, and this time not literally, even as he saw the girl's eyes widening at possibly having stopped shorter than she thought, fear starting to fill them…

 _"NO!"_

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

And with that single and unseen declaration…the mighty Illfang the Kobold Lord _tripped_ , the creature clearly as dumbfounded by the impossibility as everyone was as his Skill went out of control and, instead of bisecting Asuna, he just harmlessly passed over her, slamming against the opposite wall, _impaling himself_ with his nodachi as he did so, and then roll back in a single motion, just as Kirito reached the rapier-user's side and covered her with his arm, crouching down with her and raising his blade by reflex.

Illfang's momentum beautifully carried him to be decapitated by his sword under Diavel's dumbfounded gaze, his already low HP unable to withstand the edge against his neck, the round body of the monster rolling past the pair and shattering into polygons.

A message of 'Congratulations!' that everyone could actually see filled the room, the short fanfare it caused quickly being followed by the cheer of every single player there, their objective complete even as the black-haired boy let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and looked down at the wide-eyed girl beside him.

"That was immensely reckless of you."

 **[You gained 5 Affection Points with Heroine Asuna!]**

"I-I just…when I heard you screaming, I just had to try and help him…" mumbled Asuna while looking away from him, just in time to not see the suffering look in his face as he stared at the newest Notification.

"Well, you still shouldn't…"

"YOU!" suddenly shouted Kibaou while walking over the pair, making them blink in surprise and Kirito to deadpan at him. "You knew about the Boss' weapon from the beginning, right?! Why didn't you say anything earlier?! You risked Diavel's life!"

"Ki-Kibaou, wait a…" tried to stop him Diavel, but the cactus-haired man wasn't going to stop so easily.

"You're one of those dirty Beta Testers, right?! That's how you knew it! You were trying to land the killing blow on the Boss to…"

"Are you sure you're okay, Asuna?" questioned the gamer to everyone's shock, completely ignoring the now frozen man as he helped the chestnut-haired girl to her feet.

"E-eh? Ye-yes, I am…?"

"Thank God." muttered the boy just loud enough for everyone close to hear him, relief clearly noticeable in his voice. "I don't know what I would have done if something happened to you."

The girl's face lit up like a Christmas tree, while Kibaou's own changed color because of anger.

"Are you ignoring me, you fucking Beta Tes…?"

"Okay, first of all, shut up." growled Kirito while turning to give a sideways look to the cactus-haired man, making him stop at the sheer weight and hostility in his gaze. "Second, yes, I am a Beta Tester, but I had no idea Illfang would have that weapon, otherwise I would have said so because, unlike other people, I don't care about a goddamn drop item over actual _lives_. The only reason I knew that blade was so dangerous compared to his original one was that I saw monsters using them on upper floors. But you know what? I don't care about your opinion or your accusations at all, because I almost saw my partner here dying if it wasn't because of sheer dumb luck, after she risked herself to save that 'knight' of yours."

"Wha…you…!" tried to rebut Kibaou, everyone watching the exchange with quite the intensity, even as the gamer quite easily silenced him again.

"No, I have no more words for you, not after Asuna almost got killed because Diavel _-san_ here couldn't stick to his own damn strategy just to try and get the Last Hit Bonus himself. In fact…you know what?" as he said those words, the black-haired boy quickly operated his menu and, before everyone's eyes, materialized some sort of black coat in his hands…which he quickly crumpled into a ball and threw at Diavel's face with a snarl, the piece of equipment hitting the paralyzed man straight in the face and sending him back-first to the ground, to the clearer's absolute shock. "There, there is your stupid Rare Drop. Keep it and choke on it if you want, but never again do something that could put Asuna in danger directly or indirectly, or we will have problems. Take it as a friendly warning from a fellow Beta Tester."

Not giving anyone time to say anything else, Kirito turned around and walked towards the stairs heading for the next Floor, half-dragging Asuna by the hand even as the seemingly mute girl did her best to follow him.

No one even tried to stop them as they disappeared upstairs, all eyes immediately falling in the open-mouthed Kibaou and the silent Diavel, who was staring dumbfounded from where the pair had disappeared to the Coat of Midnight in his hands.

Meanwhile, halfway up to the next Floor…the black-haired boy still kept his straight serious face while, in his mind, he was practically shouting.

 _"OMG, I can't believe I just did that! I took care of that whole conversation no problem!"_ all but cheered the gamer while doing his best to keep his composure. _"I can't believe it, but just because I was referring to Asuna, and probably because I had her at my side, I could talk back to that cactus-headed idiot like a Boss!"_

If the swordsman had to put it in a way easier for his mind to understand, it was probably something along the lines of a 'game exploit', basically letting him use his 'Dating Stats' against others just by addressing a 'Heroine'. The number of ways in which that could be applied was staggering, his gamer mind already thinking of how…

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the achievement 'Not a Beater'! You gain +3 in Wisdom]**

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the achievement 'Not in Black'! You gain +2 in Charm!]**

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the achievement 'Derailed Destiny'! Secret Routes Unlocked!]**

…okay, for some reason, all of that sounded both ominous and strangely annoying for Kirito. Also, what the hell was a Beater?

"Ki-Kirito-kun…" mumbled a familiar voice behind him, the boy almost choking on virtual air at realizing he had been dragging Asuna with him the whole time.

"Ah, so-sorry about that, Asuna, I got a bit carried away…" apologized the gamer while letting go of her hand…and realizing SHE was the now the one holding his, though she didn't seem too aware of the fact given how she kept avoiding his gaze. "Uh?"

"I…I'm the one who should be apologizing. I didn't know I had worried you s-so much…" whispered the chestnut-haired girl while looking shyly towards him, a healthy blush adorning her face as she offered him an uncertain smile. "It's the first time…anyone says anything like that for me."

 **[You melted her heart in record time! You gain +1 in Charm!]**

 **[You gained 20 Affection Points with Heroine Asuna!]**

By that point, they had both already arrived at the door leading to the 2nd Floor, and the light of the sun coming down through the suddenly opening door blinding Asuna long enough for her not to see how Kirito paled while staring open-mouthed at the Notification.

"Ah…huh, so this is how the next floor looks like, uh?" commented the rapier-user with a smile while looking around at the plains covered in boulders with some cliffs all around. "You know…I think I'm starting to understand what you…eh? Kirito-kun?!"

The reason for the girl's shout probably had to do with the fact that the aforementioned gamer was sprinting away from her as fast as his legs allowed, not even bothering to look back at her call.

"Sorry, got to go activate the Floor's Teleport Gate so that everyone down there knows we beat the Boss, can't waste even a single second!" hurriedly shouted back the swordsman, glad that she couldn't see the panicked look in his face.

Sadly for him, it seemed Kirito had forgotten Asuna was, in fact, faster than him, which he was cheerfully reminded of when she sprinted past him and told him to lead the way towards the town. The gamer did his best not to groan.

But seriously, why the hell was it so easy to raise Affection with that girl?!

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Elves are an Important Eroge Trope

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Why indeed, Kirito. Is almost as if some higher power was trying to tell you something about her…too bad he's not even as remotely willing to hear it out unlike his canon self XD

Hope you had fun with the chapter, people! I was a bit iffy about some parts, but overall I think it ended up looking pretty well. Writing Argo was especially fun, even if having Early Aincrad/Progressive Asuna react to Eroge!Kirito's 'unintentional' smoothness was hilarious too :P 'Poor' guy, he doesn't even realize this is just the beginning, heh :P

We got some clues/hints about future events in here, and also some funny setups. Also got to see a bit of how absurd Kirito's trademark 'Skill' can manifest itself, which hope you had fun with…we got more Klein as a result!

And well, with that said, that is all for today :3 Next time, we get more Dating Sim shenanigans, timeskips, Kirito starting to lose it even more and a certain Dark Elf shows up…

Till then, though, this is Saint, signing off!


	3. Scene 2: Elves are an Important Trope

Here we are once again, people, with another chapter of my most quickly-popular SAO story ever! (Over 120 reviews and over 280 followers in less than 2 weeks?! Do you really like this madness so much XP?!)

Hope you all enjoy this chapter, I put a bit more effort than usual on it as I had quite the fun writing it. Also, several events on it are directly taken/referenced in the SAO Progressive Novels, for those who didn't know, but don't worry if you don't know those, most events are self-explained even during the time-skips :3

Reminder that this fic now has a TvTropes page that you can help fill up :)

And now, without more delay, I leave you all with the chapter!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 2:** **Elves are an Important Eroge Trope**

 **December 6th, 2022. 2nd Floor's Mountains, Aincrad. Hill near a small hut, 06:30…**

As the first rays of the virtual sun illuminated the rocky hill of Aincrad's 2nd Floor, nothing but the sound of virtual flesh hitting virtual rock could be heard in that secluded area.

And it was, apparently, that sound was woke up the chestnut-haired girl sleeping within the hut, yawning and rubbing her eyes for a moment and ignoring the old man NPC inside before walking out, her gaze zeroing on the sitting form of the whiskered observer just outside, unknowing of the words only one person in the world could see floating over her head…

 **[Izawa Shiori: 'The Rat']**

 **[Relationship Status: Best Beta Buddies]**

 **[Affection Points: 86/100]**

…or over her own.

 **[Yuuki Asuna: 'Tsundere Fencer']**

 **[Relationship Status: Undesired Friends (?)]**

 **[Affection Points: 50/100]**

"Argo? How long have you been…?"

"Up? A bit over half an hour, more or less…" answered the Info Broker without looking at her, her gaze fixed on something specific.

"I see…" mumbled Asuna while her own eyes moved towards what had Argo's full attention, also the source of the noise echoing within the deserted area. "…you know, at first I was glad you stopped me from also taking the quest and thought it was really funny, but now…"

The whiskered girl didn't answer as her friend trailed off, both of them silently staring at the bizarre, yet strangely inspiring, sight.

That of Kirito grunting slightly every time his fist slammed against a massive boulder just at the cliff's edge beyond the hut, the massive rock filled with countless cracks that widened ever so slightly every time the black-haired boy hit it, nothing but a look of boundless raw determination in his eyes.

Not even the ridiculous-looking whiskers he had on his face, which reminded of a certain cosmic cat with a magical pocket, made his visage any less impressive for the girls, at least not after two straight days of seeing him punching that rock, the rapier-user finally realized he probably hadn't slept at all last night in favor of continuing the seemingly impossible task.

Within the gamer's mind, though…his thoughts and drive were far less amazing or awe-inspiring.

 _"Never gonna…ask any of Argo's secrets…again. Next time…she can save herself from…those stupid ninjas wannabe…"_ mentally groaned Kirito as his fist kept striking the same point in the massive rock that he had started to consider as the physical incarnation of his life's problems, which only made him punch the almost-Immortal Object harder. _"You think you can…beat me, rock?! Compared to…this accursed shitty power of mine… you or…being trapped in this game…are nothing!"_

With that last thought, the swordsman released a loud battle cry and slammed his fist with all the power of his in-game STR Stat, a cracking sound filled the air as it splintered apart and collapsed upon itself, struck down with the combined powers of determination and utter despair towards reality.

For anyone that didn't know his thoughts, though, like the two females watching, the sight would have been nothing short of incredible.

"…he actually did it." mumbled Argo with a mix of awe and disbelief. "And in only 2 days…"

"I-it was certainly quite impressive, bu-but anyone can technically do it…right?" commented Asuna while trying to sound firm, but the way she kept staring at the slightly panting boy, eyes still fixed on the broken rock, showed she was also shaken by the amazing feat.

Kirito, meanwhile, was still busying himself with admiring his handiwork, relishing on the impossible feat that he would never be able to replicate in reality even in a million years (And that he would have given up on even there if it wasn't because of the horrible whiskers stuck on his face and the fact that there was no actual pain in SAO), feeling cathartically better, as if the rock had actually become the physical incarnation of his frustrations and he had actually shattered them all.

"Impressive." came a vaguely familiar voice at his side, making all three players present look in shock towards the form of the old man NPC that had given the outrageous Quest in the first place, who had, at some point, moved to stand beside the gamer. "Few have finished my task in such direct way, and even less with such drive as you have shown, young man. You're not only worthy of learning my skills but also deserve to rewarded by your spirit."

Surprise filling his face at what seemed a Special part of the Quest he had triggered without realizing it (And judging by Argo's face she didn't have any idea about this either), the black-haired boy was vaguely distracted by the notification that he had gained the Martial Arts Skill (The Extra Skill being the original reason to take the Quest, together with the mystery of his fellow Beta Tester's whiskers…even if he had quickly regretted being curious about them), and as such didn't know where the old man got the ragged-looking grey cloak he was now offered to him from.

Taking the secret Quest Reward with caution, Kirito analyzed it on his inventory and noticed it was…trash. As in, utter trash. Besides its ragged looks, the thing barely boosted his SPD by a measly couple of points, and the only 'unique' benefit it gave was that it boosted the effectiveness of Martial Arts, which wasn't much, even more for someone like him who was a sword-user, even if he actually went out of his way to level up the Extra Skill for emergencies (As he probably would).

All in all, the only thing the item did was made him think with melancholy about the badass-looking black coat that he had thrown at Diavel's face, slightly lamenting having done so even if it had been for a good cause. If this was Fate's way of trying to make up to him for having done that, then it was doing a very shitty job.

Still…this was literally the first 'good' thing he had gotten since being trapped into that game that he didn't actively work for and that wasn't involved with his goddamn 'power'. And that, in a way, made it immensely valuable for the black-haired boy.

And so, with just a slight bit of hesitation, he equipped the grey cloak, feeling as if he was about to embark in some post-apocalyptic adventure through a desert as it materialized around him, slightly covering the lower part of his head, just over his mouth.

He pointedly ignored Argo whistling his way and turned to thank the old man, as pointless as that would be, only to find that the NPC was already walking back to his hut, stopping just beyond the two girls to give him a nod of acknowledgement before vanishing inside again, to wait until another player found that secluded area and was stupid…ehem, brave enough to take his Quest.

Nodding to himself, Kirito turned around, feeling the wind pick out in a strange way, almost as if making his cloak flap just as the rising sun was behind him.

"Let's go. We have wasted enough time here as it is." spoke the swordsman while once again equipping his weapon and starting the long way back to the closest town.

"Yup. Mainly because Aa-chan here refused to move, though." commented the whiskered girl with a small grin.

"Wha…?! We-well, you could have also gone away anytime, right?! Aren't you supposed to be looking for Info to sell or something?!"

"I got lots of unexpected new Info from this, Aa-chan, so it's all good! Besides, I needed to make sure Kii-bou didn't lose it because of me…also, it's me or did that sound like you didn't want me here? Hoh? Perhaps Aa-chan wants some 'alone time' with Kii-bou? Did sleeping in the same bed as him that time awaken something inside yoo…?"

"I-I only slept with him because you made me do so! A-and you also ended up sleeping there!"

"In my case, I totally meant to do that, though."

"Wh-why you…!"

Doing his best to ignore the two bickering girls (Read as 'Argo teasing the hell out of Asuna with gusto') behind him, Kirito took a deep breath as he gripped the inside of his cloak, telling himself everything would be better soon and that, no matter what his stupid power did, he wasn't going to let it control his life.

Now, it was time to clear that goddammed second floor without anything weirdly convoluted happening!

* * *

 **December 13th, 2022. Aincrad, 3rd Floor. Forest of Wavering Mists, 16:15…**

"Well, that was certainly an interesting 2nd Floor, don't you think?" commented Argo as the trio left behind the door that led from the previous Floor's stairs to the current one, a tired but victorious grin in her face. "Also, woah, that was certainly quite a mess of a Boss Fight…I'm glad I stuck with you two to level up…"

"Don't you mind you're glad we do most of the work while you just follow along?" asked Asuna while scowling towards the whiskered girl, who only offered her a cheeky grin in return. "Ugh…I can't deny you were amazing and pretty much the main reason that surprise Boss didn't screw everything over, though, so…good job on that."

"Oh, Aa-chan, try to drop the 'Tsun' a bit more, yeah?" laughed the Info Broker while ignoring the outraged and embarrassed response of her chestnut-haired friend, opting to look at the silent boy before them. "What about you, Kii-bou? Anything you want to comment on our experiences on the 2nd Floor?"

For a moment, Kirito stopped walking, feeling his eyebrow twitch at thinking back on everything that had happened in the last damn floor. From problems among the Clearing Group because Kibaou and that idiot Lind couldn't agree on anything and Diavel had temporary dropped from the Front Lines (Due to depression after the fiasco of the 1st Floor Boss Fight) to a group of players doing a complex scam with their blacksmith friend in order to get better weapons and equipment with no effort, at the cost of every other scammed player's efforts (And which Asuna had almost been part of). Which in the end had been resolved by them playing detective, discovering the whole emotive backstory, behind it all, helping out the poor blacksmith guy and having the group (Calling themselves the 'Legend Braves' because of their Myth Heroes-based names) showing their sincerity by apologizing and protecting their friend when it seemed he was going to willingly take the blame for everything. While also getting the mysterious and typically shady guy who had told them about the method for the scam in the first place 'arrested'.

If he had to sum all of it up, the gamer would probably say…

"Fucking Protagonist title. Fucking fantasy/action plot…"

"Uh? What was that, Kii-bou?" asked the whiskered girl while skipping to his side, a playful grin on her face. "I couldn't properly hear you!"

 **[Izawa Shiori: 'The Rat']**

 **[Relationship Status: Trusted Partners]**

 **[Affection Points: 29/100]**

"Nothing Argo, just that I hope this Floor is less messy in regard to…everything." mumbled the black-haired boy while doing his best to not pay attention to the words above her head.

"Well, both of you were Beta Testers, so, as long as no more unexpected player-related things happen, we should have a pretty good idea of what to expect, right?" spoke the rapier-user while easily catching up and sending him a smile. "So, what can we expect from this floor, Kirito-kun?"

 **[Yuuki Asuna: 'Tsundere Fencer']**

 **[Relationship Status: Best Friends]**

 **[Affection Points: 55/100]**

"…hopefully a normal and free of complicated twists clearing." sighed the gamer while trying to not pay much attention to the words floating over his two female friends, at this point all but resigned that the only thing he could do was 'slow down' the process as much as he could and be terrified of whatever would come next. "But also the 'true beginning' of the game in a way."

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"He means that, from this Floor onwards, actual humanoid and human-like enemies, some that are all but indistinguishable from players except for their cursors, start appearing, Aa-chan." explained Argo with a finger raised before her face. "And these enemies also have the ability to use actual Sword Skills like us players and, so far, only Bosses have been able to. It was an exciting prospect in the Beta, but now…"

"I don't think anyone is really going to cheer or comment how exciting all of that is when our lives are on the line." finished Kirito with a small grimace as they saw the trees opening before them into a clearing, blinking in surprise before his face illuminated. "Wait, I remember this…"

Before Asuna could ask (Again) what he meant by that, the sound of clashing swords reached their ears, the trio hurrying a bit in time to see two figures locked in combat.

Both of them seemed human, but the pointy ears clearly made it obvious they weren't, though that was also the only similarity between the two: One of them was male, wearing regal light silver armor and a mantle while using a straight sword, both his hair and eyes being of a dark green color. The other was a dark-skinned female of dark lilac hair and violet eyes, her light armor and cloak being black and purple, with a black silk undersuit underneath those, a scimitar and a shield in her hands.

"Are those…elves?" whispered the chestnut-haired girl while observing the fight between the two non-humans in awe.

"Yup. A Forest Elf and a Dark Elf respectively. They're actually a Quest-triggering event and the first actual 'Quest Campaign' of Sword Art Online, the 'Elf War' in this case, which continues all the way to the 9th Floor." informed Argo while giving the fighting NPCs an appraising look, trying to remember all she could about that particular part of the Beta. "Basically, you need to choose which side you want to help and join the fight and then you will stick with that side through the whole campaign. There are a lot of very useful and rare Items and rewards you get from it, not to mention extra rare ones if you finish it and…"

"Less talking, more Questing." interrupted the black-haired boy while unsheathing his blade, his ragged cloak flapping slightly as he did so. "We're aiding the Dark Elf."

"…because that's what you did on the Beta?" ventured the rapier-user with a slight smile.

"Yeah, how did you know?" curiously asked the gamer while barely resisting his urge to unleash more violence as a way to vent his frustrations (Something he was worryingly getting more used to every day).

"Well, you just seem to love helping out girls in distre…"

"And this conversation is over!" loudly declared Kirito while jumping forward into the battle, ignoring the two girl's chuckles as both elves looked at them and shouted it wasn't their fight.

Actually, Asuna's words had only made him remember that there was no way for the players to actually beat the enemy, and he couldn't help but felt a nostalgic pang of pity towards the Dark Elf even as he and the girls stood by her and pointed sword, rapier, and (Recently acquired) claws towards the Forest Elf. After all, by the end of the battle, the poor girl would sacrifice herself for their sake so that they could continue the Quest…

* * *

"Once again, let me offer you my most sincere thanks for your help, humans…no, Kirito, Argo, and Asuna. I dread to think what would have happened to me if you hadn't come to my aid back there." softly spoke several hours later the same, perfectly fine and happy dark elf, sitting within her tent in the Dark Elf Base hidden somewhere within the forests of Floor 3. "I'm sure I would have never been able to recover the Jade Key without your aid.

The aforementioned 3 players were sitting in that same tent, illuminated by the soft light of a lamp while outside the moon was already high in the sky. Also, two of them were still staring at her as if her very existence was something fascinating while the last one, the only non-Beta Tester among them, just nodded and smiled happily.

"It was no problem, Kizmel-san! Besides, your commander rewarded us already, and we promised to continue helping you all out so there really isn't any need of further thanks."

"…you know what, I have been eating my brain way too long about how this is possible, so I'm just going to handwave it to the same reasons why Illfang had a nodachi instead of a talwar and why there was a third freaking minotaur, that could shoot lighting, on the 2nd Floor as the actual Floor Boss." sighed Argo while finally giving up on wondering about the dark elf's survival and her surprisingly realistic intelligence, completely different from any NPC she had ever seen before. "So, yeah, as Aa-chan said girl, there is no need to give us more thanks…though, if you could increase the amount of reward we're going to get from this…"

"Argo! Don't be so greedy, they're in the middle of a war!"

"And I'm an Info Broker actively participating in said war! I think I'm on my right to demand a bit of extra compensation, don't you think?"

"You could always just leave the Party and go back to the nearest town, then…"

"Sure, because that's totally the reason you want me out of the picture and not to be alone with Kii-bou…"

"Wha-wha…?! I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Aa-chan, dear, if you want to convince me, start by not sounding as if you're trying to convince yourself…"

Kirito, for his part, was completely ignoring the talk between his companions in favor of staring towards Kizmel, who was looking with interest at the ongoing talk between them.

Honestly, the black-haired boy didn't know what he found more fascinating about her, if her surprisingly human-like AI…or the fact that he had interacted, talked and even conversed with her for hours and his stupid power hadn't activated at all.

Then again, she was an NPC, so maybe that should make it a foregone conclusion that she couldn't be 'romanced', but it was still a refreshing relief for the gamer. While he hadn't gone out of his way to look for other of the (Thankfully very few) female players since he got into SAO, the thought of running into any and accidentally using his stupid Dating Sim 'skill' on them just because he couldn't control it was still one of his greatest fears. Which was why the fact that he could use his (Passively augmented thanks to his Stats) capacity to talk smoothly and in control with a girl on Kizmel without said risks was almost cathartic for the 'cursed' swordsman.

He was so busy lost in those thoughts that he barely noticed when she broke out laughing at a particularly interesting part of Argo and Asuna's 'argument' (Something about the red-faced rapier-user demanding how the grinning Info Broker knew which color of underwear she was wearing) and stood up.

"Well, as interesting as is hearing you two argue, it's getting late, so I would remind you that you're free to use both the dining and bathing tents from the camp before going to sleep. You can continue your argument to decide which of the two is fitter to be Kirito's number 1 woman after that."

Kirito didn't know it was possible to choke on air, let alone the one entering in your nonexistent virtual lungs, but that was exactly what he did at the unexpected declaration, both of his female companions freezing and looking at the Dark Elf with clear shock and embarrassment in their faces…but they couldn't even start to try and deny her words when she casually tossed her cloak aside and then unstrapped her armor as if it was the most normal thing in the world, making them all gap in her direction.

"Wha-what are you doing?!" all but screamed Asuna while standing up.

"Hmm? What does it look like? I'm disrobing to change into my sleeping garments." casually commented the dark-skinned girl as if she didn't understand the reason behind the player's question, even as she started to take off her undersuit.

"Bu-but…there is a boy here!" insisted the rapier-user while pointing towards the paralyzed gamer, who, together with Argo, was staring almost intently as more and more of Kizmel's skin was exposed.

"Yeah, I noticed, we have been talking for a while." continued the dark elf…while finally taking off her undersuit, throwing it aside and revealing that, apparently, Aincrad's elves didn't wear underwear under that. "Seriously, Asuna, why are you pointing the obvious?"

"Ah…I…you…" croaked Asuna while staring at the dark-skinned girl's fully naked body as she shamelessly walked past them and started grabbing her sleeping clothes.

"…damn girl, you're well-endowed in all the right places." shamelessly commented Argo while staring at Kizmel's mature body with a mix of awe, fascination, and slight envy. "…enjoying the spectacle, Kii-bou?"

The gamer, for his part, inwardly wondered if it could be counted as a blessing or not that he was no longer the teenager that would have blushed and all but ran out of the room when the sexy elf started taking off her clothes because of his damn stats. Yes, he would be a filthy liar if he said he wasn't enjoying the view and burning it into his young teenage virgin mind, but he also just KNEW that this was about to seriously screw him over somehow, especially because he couldn't help but answer…

"Yes. A lot."

…yep, the shaky smile on the Info Broker's face and the living look the chestnut-haired girl was giving him was already an answer to his earlier worry. Cursed Dating Sim po…

"Oh? Why, thank you, Kirito." commented Kizmel while turning to smile at him, the clothes in her hands not doing a good job to cover anything as she started getting dressed. "I can't remember any time a fellow warrior complimented my body, even more since the war started."

 **[Kizmel Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Kizmel!]**

 **[Your current status with Kizmel has changed to 'Fellow Warriors'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievement: 'Honest Answer'! You gain +1 in Wisdom!]**

…okay, let him correct himself. _Fucking_ Dating Sim power.

Later that night, after having cowardly abused for the first time of the power his Dating Stats granted him over anyone recognized as one of his 'Heroines' to escape what would have no doubt been an angry tirade from Asuna and a merciless tongue-lashing from Argo, Kirito was staring blankly at the ceiling of Kizmel's tent, unable to sleep.

It probably had something to do with the two warm bodies at each of his sides, Argo's soft snores tickling his arm while Asuna had all but taken hold of his other one like one would with a teddy bear…and the 'saddest' fact was that at this point he was all but used to it.

"Every damn time…and in the morning it will either be endless teasing from one side and angry shyness from the other." groaned the black-haired boy while automatically moving his free arm to softly pat Asuna's head several times, managing the desired reaction of having her smile and let go of his other arm.

 **[You gained 5 Affection Points with Heroine Asuna!]**

…insert line here about him complaining about why it was so easy to raise Affection with her. Seriously, at this point he was fully resigned to it and even entertained the hilarious thought that maybe they were fated to get married in another life or something equally ridiculous.

More interested in the fact of why he had woken up (As he was so used to them sneaking into his bed that he was worried about getting _comfortable_ with it) than what excuse one would try to pin on the other (Read as 'Argo on Asuna') to explain why they didn't try to share the other bed with Kizmel, the gamer softly got out of the bed…and realized the dark elf was gone, her own bed (The only other one within her tent) empty and the flaps of the construct slightly open.

Almost against his will, Kirito found himself walking outside the tent, looking around the now silent camp and, by chance, seeing the lilac-haired young woman walking towards a path just out of sight from the main area.

Following her, the black-haired boy saw how she stopped to stand…before what was clearly some type of _graves_.

 _"Walk away. This has nothing to do with you nor its needed to survive, and you WANT to dodge having more unnecessary headaches, so walk away and get back to bed with your two kinda-friends."_ mentally told himself the gamer with a small nod, and then…"Is something wrong, Kizmel?"

…god dammit!

"Uh? Kirito?" asked Kizmel while turning to look at him in surprise, letting the boy see that she had a small bottle in her hands. "You shouldn't be up so late…go and rest some more, I was just…"

"Someone you knew?" interrupted Kirito with just the perfect amount of concern, his curiosity having driving him to take advantage of his Stats almost against his will.

"…my little sister actually." whispered the dark elf while looking back at the tomb, even as the boy's heart skipped a beat at the words.

He was so shocked he barely noticed when the world lost color and froze around him, especially because it had been quite some time since it last happened, but his gaze drifted towards his Choices immediately, almost half-expecting what he would see already.

 **A-[Oh…I'm truly sorry for your loss]**

 **B-[…you're right, I should probably go back to bed]**

 **C-[…I have a little sister myself]**

By all means, he should have chosen Option B. Didn't he constantly remind himself of the dangers of his power? Wasn't he always trying to avoid complicating his already weirdly twisted life even more because of it?

…if so, why was he just unable to not meddle in someone else's business?!

"…I have a little sister myself." admitted Kirito while closing his eyes, his body once again 'overridden' after he chose Option C. "I haven't seen her since I 'got trapped in this castle' so to speak…and I really miss her."

…the only good thing about having done that, the boy thought, was that all of it had been completely sincere. Having accidentally used his power on her thinking it was no big deal aside, he _really_ did miss Sugu.

"…then, in a way, you know how I feel. Except that you may still see your sister again." muttered the lilac-haired girl with a small smile before sitting down and patting the ground at her side, moving her bottle a little. "Come sit with me, young warrior. Let's drink together as we talk."

And so, the black-haired boy sat down and drank with the dark elf, exchanging the story of the deceased Tilnel with some about his and Suguha's childhood (Without mentioning terms or the concept of the 'real world', obviously), explaining it in a way that he and his friends had ended up there through some strange magic that had left them trapped away from their families, and idly glad that it wasn't possible to get drunk within Sword Art Online as he enjoyed Kizmel's company and the openness of the conversation, wondering if it was because he knew the girl beside him was an NPC…or maybe because it was the first time he willingly tried to converse with someone else about personal matters.

…there was also the fact that her sleeping clothes made it extremely obvious she was wearing nothing underneath, and both the fact and his earlier memory of it were making it very hard to look anywhere but at her (Damned hormones)…though his attention truly snapped her way when she mentioned something that caught him off guard.

"The…Great Separation?"

"Yes. It's the legend among my people, talking about the creation of this place: Once upon a time, there was a great catastrophe threatening the world and it seemed that nothing would stop the end…until two Goddesses, twins, used their divine power and prayed to the earth for a miracle that could save as many as possible." as Kizmel recounted the tale, the black-haired boy could almost imagine it all if he closed his eyes, two female shadows identical to each other praying as everything around them shook. "Then, a miracle happened and a hundred circular plots of land were cut from the earth to form the Floating Castle of Aincrad, dividing the elven kingdoms and the other civilizations in the process, but also saving them from the catastrophe that engulfed the world under the clouds."

"That's…quite the tale, woah." muttered the gamer as he took another sip from the bottle they had been sharing, his eyes dropping towards the spot where the dark elf had dropped some atop her sister's grave, saying it had been her favorite drink. "…what happened to the goddesses?"

"Nobody knows, though some think they stayed down and vanished with the world of catastrophe after using all of their power to create Aincrad. I myself think they're still out there, somewhere, maybe looking over us." smiled the girl before giving Kirito a small glance. "Who knows, maybe one day you may find them, using that same magic that sent you here."

"Heh, yeah, I seriously doubt that would ever happen…though it would probably be amazing to meet real Goddesses." commented the black-haired boy before noticing Kizmel stifling a yawn, smiling softly at the sight. "I guess we have been talking for a long time…want to go back to bed?"

"That's probably for the better. We never know what the morning will bring, after all." nodded the dark elf while standing up, before extending a hand towards the gamer and helping him up. "…and thanks, Kirito. I feel this conversation has been…the most refreshing I have had in a long time."

"Not a problem, Kizmel." smiled back Kirito while giving her a thumbs-up, suppressing the need to laugh at her confused expression towards the gesture. "Now I just need to think how to get back in bed without waking those two…"

"Don't worry, you can sleep with me on my bed." calmly replied the girl while giving him a smile as she walked back to her tent. "That way you won't risk waking them up."

"…I really don't think she's joking…right?"

 **[You gained 20 Affection Points with Heroine Kizmel!]**

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Suguha!]**

…well, that answered his quest…wait, how in the hell did that earn him points with Sugu?! She wasn't even there to hear him!

At that moment, in the real world, Kirigaya Suguha slept with a soft smile completely at odds with the worried look she usually wore in her face nowadays; dreaming about her adopted brother talking with someone about how much he missed her.

Back in Aincrad, though, Kirito sighed and headed back towards the tent where his companions and their new elf friend were waiting.

Sure, he had indulged himself a bit more than he was used to with Kizmel, but it had mostly been friendly and relaxing talk, stupid power be damned, and, despite her quirks, she was quite a friendly and seemingly dependable girl.

And even as he was actually roped into sleeping in the same bed as the Dark Elf, he thought this was probably just going to be something that would help him relax in the near future…

* * *

 **December 23rd, 2022. Yofel Castle, Aincrad's 4th Floor. Great Bath, 20:30…**

"So, in this realm you three come from, it will soon be an important festivity, huh? I'm sorry you won't be able to spend it with your families, really…"

"Do-don't feel bad a-about that, Kizmel! After all, i-it's not re-really your fa-fault…"

"Yeah, Kii-chan. As Aa-chan says, it's not really something you can do anything about. And besides, the views from this awesome elf castle are an early Christmas gift on itself!"

"I see…I'm glad to hear that. Also, is there any reason you have been so flustered the last minutes, Asuna? Perhaps the water is too hot for you?"

"N-no, not at all! I'm pe-perfectly fine!"

"Yup, pretty sure the water isn't what's hot for her at all…probably has something to do with Mr. Mute over there. Nee, Kii-bou? Enjoying the free view? Or are you still trying to count how many lines are on the ceiling?"

Taking a deep breath, Kirito completely ignored Argo's teasing (While telling himself it was impossible to physically hear her _wiggling her eyebrows_ in his direction) and went back to looking at the cracks on the ceiling, deciding he would never tempt Fate again by thinking things wouldn't get so much 'worse' for him.

First, Kizmel had stuck with them almost all the time, going against everything Argo(And he) knew about the Quest Campaign, in a way he was pretty sure went way beyond 'changes from the Beta'. Whenever they weren't helping the now Knight Dark Elf with matters related to the crazy war between her people and the Forest Elves, she followed them around like it was the most normal thing, like an extra Party Member that the game seemed to forget wasn't supposed to stay with them out of her Quests. She had fought, eaten and sleep with them for almost every day of the last ten, even helped with the fight against the Field Boss in the previous Floor, and had only separated from them for a few hours yesterday (Much to her clear displeasure) to get to that castle earlier in order to deliver an important item, just before their fight against the Floor Boss.

Honestly, at this point he, Argo and Asuna had grown so used to the Dark Elf's presence that it was also weird for them to not have her around, and they all but ignored her unusual quirks and comments that showed she clearly wasn't a human (Or a 'player' aware of the world's truth)…

…but how that had ended up with all four of them naked in that open bath within the elven castle was something he still had no idea about, and fully blamed his damned power for. Even if there was a remote possibility of something like this happening without it, they all not knowing the separated doors still led to the same bath included, he was pretty damn sure it had something to do with the fact that there was no 'swimming attire' available at all precisely that day.

Because of that, and while he had greedily drunk on the sights for a few seconds during the confusion/shock at the beginning, now he was sticking to stare at anywhere but at the very naked and very beautiful girls that were there with him. Not because he didn't want to (He really did, his stupid power just made him even more honest with himself than what he would be otherwise), but because he was sure right now he was toying the line between Asuna exploding, Argo's teasing getting out of hand or Kizmel saying something outrageous, and he was very much interested in not going down any of those routes. His mind was already overloaded enough as it was.

If only he had something that could help him talk his way out of the potentially awkwardness-exploding situation…oh wait, yeah, he had. The same thing that put him in said situation in the first place.

 **[Dating Stats]**

 **Charm: 19**

 **Wisdom: 27**

 **Aura: ?**

"…Christmas, uh?" commented Kirito out loud while finally looking away from the ceiling, though not towards his female companions but instead towards the lake which surrounded the elven castle. "Funny…I never thought I would miss something as silly as having dinner with my sister while waiting for mom to get home terribly late before we opened our presents, but now…"

"…yeah, I think I get you, Kii-bou." sighed the Info Broker after a couple seconds of awkward silence. "A warm and boring meal with my parents, while Christmas songs come from the TV…it's always the things you take for granted, huh? What about you, Aa-chan? Something you're going to miss this Christmas?"

"…not much, really." mumbled the rapier-user with a suddenly distant look in her eyes. "Christmas has been nothing but fancy boring parties and lots of people I barely knew the names of for years to me…honestly, I'm almost looking forward to spending it with the three of you."

"I see…I may not fully get the intent behind this 'Christmas' festivity you mention, but it seems that being in family is a big part of it, right?" asked Kizmel with a thoughtful look, a soft smile appearing on her lips. "In a way, then, we all count for that in some way, wouldn't you say? As fellow warriors and friends that have gone through many adventures together, we're kind of like a family."

"That's…a beautiful way to look at it, Kizmel." smiled Asuna upon hearing the dark elf's words.

"Aww, that's so cute…come here Aa-chan! Let your Onee-chan give you a big hug!"

"Wah! A-Argo, s-stop that…!"

Barely suppressing the urge to chuckle (But still attentively not looking their way), Kirito relaxed once again in the water at the successfully diffused situation, abstaining from mentioning how they had started talking about matters of the real world almost without realizing it (Something he didn't know if to attribute to his power or not). Perhaps now he could just stay there ignored until they took the logical decision of leaving the bath first and…

"Anyway, I think we have been here quite long enough, we should better clean up and get out. Kirito, could you please wash my back?"

And just like that, everything the previous conversation had managed to 'relax' came back twice as hard (Pun not intended), even as three heads snapped towards Kizmel at the declaration.

"EH?!"

"What?!"

"Again?!"

"…what do you mean by again?!" finished both human girls present as their gazes shot from the dark elf towards him…and froze, even as he did the same and, his attention now not fully on the non-human female, took in the whole glorious scene.

Namely, both Asuna and Argo, naked and halfway in the water, the towels they had brought to the bath barely draped over them because of the abruptness of their standing up, while Kizmel had gotten out of the water and was sitting just beside the bath while calmly applying soap over her mature and dark-skinned body, watching the scene as if there was nothing wrong with it (And to her there probably wasn't).

 **['Bath in the Elf Castle' was added to the gallery!]**

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the achievement 'Privileged View'! You gained +3 in Aura!]**

…well, that was always nice to know, he supposed. Also, while he was just frozen thinking of what to do next, he became idly aware that both his fellow players had, indeed, been frozen in shock staring at him, which keenly reminding him of the small fact that he was, also, naked.

With all the dignity and calmness his Stats granted him, the gamer took a deep breath and sat back down again, looking away as if nothing had happened.

"No, Kizmel, sorry but as I mentioned last time, that's not really something you should be comfortable doing with a boy, elven customs aside. Ask Argo or Asuna, I'm sure they won't mind."

"Oh, that's a shame, you did a very good job of it last time…" commented the dark elf before turning towards the two still paralyzed girls. "He has a lot of skill with his hands, right?"

"I wouldn't know." dryly muttered the Info Broker with a slight twitch in her eyes. "How about you, Aa-chan? Any previous 'knowledge' of that little fact?"

"O-of course not! A-and Kirito-kun, what have you been doing with Kizmel when we weren't around?!"

On the one hand, the boy could attempt some half-baked denials to maybe work his way around the accusation and the misunderstanding that was sure to follow. On the other hand, a sure way to quickly shut the rapier-user up would be…

"Want me to show you, Asuna?" asked the gamer with a 'gentle' smile while looking at the aforementioned girl right in the eyes. "I can wash your back right now if you want."

The way in which Asuna's face quickly burned and she suddenly seemed to choke with her own tongue was extremely satisfying to the most frustrated side of Kirito.

However, it seemed Argo just couldn't stand someone else having fun at other's expense before her eyes.

"Pfft, yeah right, try a better bluff, Kii-bou. We all know you wouldn't ever dare to do something like that. Otherwise, you would have already taken advantage of every time we sleep together to cop a feel or two from one of us while we can't notice." challenged the whiskered girl with a victorious grin on her face, arms crossed over her chest as she nodded. "There is no way you can back up to those words."

…calm down…don't take the bait…calm down…it was just Argo being Argo at his expense… _again_ …

Oh well, fuck it. She was the one that had tempted Fate this time, after all.

"A-Argo, what are you sa…?!"

"Was that a challenge, Argo?" slowly questioned Kirito while grabbing the towel at the bath's edge, wrapping it around his waist and standing up, suddenly STARING towards the three females in the bath with all the intensity of his Stats for the first time ever, all three freezing even as the Info Broker suddenly felt her throat very dry under his gaze. "Because you of all people should know…that I never back down from a 'fight'."

It was truly a testament to his bullshit reality-breaking power, that he could say that while grabbing a sponge and still somehow seem terribly menacing.

Thirty minutes later…Kirito was staring at his 'handiwork' with a blank face, the weirdest mix of shame and disbelief filling him as he looked down at the three panting females, who somehow seemed to have found the impossible (At least for players, he wasn't sure about NPCs like Kizmel) state between consciousness and unconsciousness in virtual reality, their bodies now dry and with towels partially covering them despite their almost eerie twitches and the apparent difficulty they had breathing.

"Ho…how…? So…good…"

"Just washed my back…nothing more…not even touched me in any improper places…and yet…"

"Woah…you got better at it than last time…Kirito…"

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Shiori!]**

 **[You gained 20 Affection Points with Heroine Asuna!]**

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Kizmel!]**

 **[Congratulations! The Skill 'Back-washing' has been Unlocked!]**

 **[Back-washing] (Passive Skill): Grants 'magical hands' when washing one of your Heroines' backs. Every delicate stroke you use to clean their skin grants them overwhelming happiness and sudden pleasure (Only works on Heroines).**

"…I'm going to sleep now." announced the gamer with a deadpan voice before walking out of the bath at a brisk pace, deciding to ignore how he had randomly gained the power of doing **that** just by innocently and rigorously washing the girls' backs, for the sake of getting out of there, lest he was tempted to do something he would regret after the deed.

Hopefully a good night of dreamless sleep followed by a peaceful morning as they headed back to clearing the damn Floor would make them all forget this ever happened…

…which, of course, caused him to wake up to an invasion force attacking the castle.

Seriously, when would he learn?

"Where did all these guys come from?!" all but screamed Asuna as she kicked back a forest elf that had just managed to climb over the castle's wall, the enemy NPC screaming as he fell towards his death. "How come no one saw them coming?!"

"If I had to guess, I would say those stuck-up elf higher-ups Kii-chan couldn't stop complaining about never considered the possibility of the forest elves working with the fallen elves and making boats to come invade…or something like that, really, even I am starting to lose track of how much more complex and crazier this Quest Campaign has become!" shouted Argo without even breathing as she finally managed to get the upper hand against the fallen elf she was fighting, the enemy cursing as her claws sank violently into his flesh and he shattered into polygons. "Where the hell did she go, by the way?!"

"Those aforementioned annoying elves superiors called her when we were heading for this fight!" answered Kirito as he looked over the wall and down at how the unprepared defenders of Yofel Castle were having a hard time repelling the invaders. "She can take care of herself and is in no danger inside, though, so let's concentrate on how we get through this bullshit random event alive!"

"And preferably without the castle falling!" added Asuna as she impaled another poor elf, wincing as it screamed and fell back before shattering into polygons. "…I'm never going to get used to that."

"It's either them or us right now, Aa-chan, we will worry about the moral implications of how human these NPCs are later!" groaned Argo as she backed her enemy enough against the wall to unleash a Martial Art's Skill and throw him off the wall too. "…ugh, okay…we need a better strategy, this clearly isn't working and we already lost way too much HP…at least we can be glad they don't have archers."

"Eh? Why?" questioned a confused rapier-user while looking at her whiskered friend.

"…you know, because elves are the deadliest archers…?" at the blank stare she received, the Info Broker could only gap in disbelief. "How can you not get that reference?! Have you never read a good fantasy book in your li…?!"

"This is bad! We have lost the key!" shouted a random dark elf while running past the three players, making them look at him in surprise. "Kizmel was caught by the enemy and…!"

"What?!" shouted Kirito while stopping the elf dead in his tracks, forcing the NPC to look at him. "What do you mean Kizmel was caught?!"

For a moment, the dark elf just stared at the black-haired boy with incomprehension, making the gamer fear there was no programmed response on him to answer his predicament…when something seemed to 'click' within his mind and more words spilled from his mouth.

"Sh-she was told to escape with the Jade Key you humans helped her recover and protect in the previous Floor, but she refused to run without you so she tried to fight, bu-but without her armor or weapon, she…"

"Dammit all!" growled Kirito while letting go of the dark elf soldier, not needing more details, given their companion had told them about the complacency and annoyance of the elf priests in the castle being the reason it was forbidden to wear armor or carry weapons within the walls, something that greatly bothered her (Especially as she couldn't simply equip/unequip things like they could through their menus), reason why she had been wearing a dress the past two days.

If she had been going to retrieve her armor and weapon and had been caught while doing so…

"Fuck, this is bad." cursed Argo as she arrived at the same conclusion as her fellow Beta Tester, her eyes suddenly sharp as she looked at the other two. "We gotta save Kii-chan, now."

"Then let's move!" determinedly shouted Asuna, this time not even bothering to look as she rapier-slapped another elf that had managed to climb over the wall, worry and determination clear in her gaze. "If we don't hurry, Kizmel could…!"

"If we leave this position, the castle could fall." suddenly spoke the only boy present while tightening his grip on his sword. "There is no telling if we would be able to escape the castle alive if they took it over."

"Are you saying we leave her be to her…?!" screamed the Info Broker with disbelief, before her words died in her throat at the serious luck the gamer sent her.

"Never. But we seriously need a miracle if we hope to save…"

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

…well, talk about convenience.

"WATCH OUT!" shouted a random dark elf while throwing himself down, the three behind him turning around in confusion in time for a strangely spherical 'rock' to crash from the heavens and shatter them into polygons.

"…do they have siege weapons too?! No…wait, that's…!"

Almost ignoring Argo's declaration, the other 2 players present _stared_ at the familiar rock before one of its sides opened, letting a familiar figure with a sword to step out, a bandana over his head and a fierce smile on his face.

"Kirito, we saw you guys fighting from the shore, and there was this convenient catapult abandoned there so we came to help! Fuurinkazan is ready to save the day!" announced Klein before, one by one, the rest of his (For now) unofficial guild emerged from the vehicle, groaning and looking dizzy, making it very clear they hadn't really been riding on the 'vehicle' as much as their leader had.

"Klein-san?!" shouted Asuna with disbelief. "Is it really you?!"

"Forget that, how the hell did you all fit inside that thing?!" demanded Argo while pointing at the barely-man-sized sphere and then at the other 5 guys that were lying on the ground behind the samurai wannabe.

"Eh? Didn't I mention that?" commented a curious Klein before proudly pointing towards the most infamous item of Aincrad (At least if her sources were right). "This Fuurin-mobile is bigger on the inside!"

"…Klein, please, stop calling it that." groaned one of the members on the ground while trying to stand. "It's…painful…"

"…wait a minute, was that a reference to Dr. W…?"

Whatever the whiskered girl wanted to say couldn't be finished, as several more forest and fallen elves managed to climb over the wall in that moment, forcing the group to raise their weapons and fight back, the bandana-wearing man quickly providing that he was apparently a pro at organizing his friends into a very efficient defensive formation.

"W-we may actually hold them off here now!" exclaimed Asuna as they easily repelled another wave of enemies.

"You bet we will, Asuna-san!" grinned Klein while turning around. "Don't you think so too, Kiri…? Eh? Where did he go?!"

It was at that moment that everyone realized the black-haired boy had vanished at some point.

Meanwhile, Kizmel was cursing everything under the sun as she struggled against the rope binding her hands and legs while she was dragged towards one of the castle's docks.

"Struggle all you want, dark elf, you're not getting free from those bindings." coldly declared one of the fallen elves dragging the prisoner towards one of their boats.

"And thanks to this little treasure of yours, this war is all but won for us." commented the forest elf clearly in charge of the group while raising the shining form of the Jade Key.

"Cowards." spat the Dark Elf while glaring at them. "If I had my blade with me, you wouldn't…!"

"This is war, dark elf. Don't expect us to let you fight fairly just because you were caught unarmed." sentenced the Forest Elf Commander while looking at her with disdain. "As if your kind weren't bad enough already by letting humans meddle in our fight…well, we will make sure of making an example out of you to…"

"You shall do no such thing, honorless scum."

The sudden voice was loud, yet calm. Regal, yet with an edge of steel. It was something extremely unnerving, yet for Kizmel it was surprisingly relaxing.

As one, the elves turned around, to see a bizarre figure walking towards them, the sound of clanking metal echoing with each step he took.

Clad from head to toe in full-body elven armor of a dark gray color, of the type that favored protection over mobility, the mysterious newcomer would have already made for a surprisingly imposing visage under the morning's sun, even if the thick helmet he wore would have been criticized for clearly limiting his view, hiding his head and face from view and the small opening for his eyes hiding even those from view because of the light's angle.

What truly stopped the invaders in their tracks, though, were the absurd number of weapons he was carrying.

A sword in one hand, a scimitar on the other…and what looked like a heap of other ones someone had badly tied together hanging from his back.

"What in the Ancestors' name…?" started one of the elves…before the mysterious armored warrior threw the scimitar at him, the blade sinking on his stomach and making him scream while releasing Kizmel, who stared in shock as the fallen fell (Pun not intended) at her side. "AGH!"

"Who are you, bastard?!" demanded the commander while he and the others started to draw their weapons.

Undeterred, the newcomer grabbed another weapon from his back and unceremoniously threw it their way, catching another of the elves on the shoulder and making him slip and fall on the water.

"Me? I'm but a Nameless Knight from a distant land. And I have come to free the warrior you so unfairly have kidnapped." answered the armored one before continuing his every-second-more-ineffective 'strategy' of throwing blades as if they were Throwing Weapons.

"Hah, some knight you are! You call this a strategy?!" taunted the enemy leader with a snarl as he easily batted away another elven blade, his remaining subordinates starting to close in the newcomer's position. "Throwing swords our way won't stop fully prepared warriors!"

"…you're right, sadly. It looks like I have no other option." declared the 'Nameless Knight' with an overly dramatic sigh, dropping the remaining weapons on his back and raising only the blade he hadn't dropped since he appeared. "I will have to recur…to kendo."

Everyone froze at the declaration, a strange feeling of dread overcoming the elves for some unknown reason.

"Ken…do?" muttered one of the fallen closer to the front. "What's that?"

"The ancient way of the blade practiced in my land, which my ancestors were masters of. I myself abandoned it a long time ago, so I'm more than rusty on it, but I still retain its most basic teaching…" as he said those words, the armored one shifted his stance and, slowly…gripped his blade's hilt with both hands. "Your sword hits harder when you hold it with both hands."

A new kind of silence overcame the elves present, this one a mix of disbelief and unnatural tension as they STARED at the Nameless Knight.

"That…everyone knows that you imbecile!" shouted the commander while wondering why he felt so tense.

"Oh? You sure?" suddenly, for some reason, the armored one looked surprisingly menacing, his sword raised above his head and the tip just against the sun rising over Yofel castle's walls, his arms seemed like armored pillars of power to the slightly scared elves. "Care to bet your subordinates lives for that?"

"He's bluffing! He has to be!" screamed one of the forest elves with a hysteric edge in his voice.

"…yup, you're right, I'm totally bullshitting you." confirmed the Nameless Knight with a suddenly very less impressive voice, catching them all off-guard. "I was just appealing to you elves' apparent tendency to take grandiloquent and dramatic things like this so seriously in order to distract you."

"Wait, distract us from wha…?"

STAB!

"From her." simply declared the armored one while the elves turned around in shock, seeing their commander run from side to side by a scimitar. "Thinking she was a damsel in distress was your first mistake…the second was not realizing I wasn't randomly throwing those other blades at you."

"I will be taking this, bastard." snarled Kizmel while removing her blade (The first one the newcomer had thrown) from the commander's body as she took the Jade Key from his hands, her eyes moving towards the shocked elves even as their leader's form shattered into shards of light. "So…who's next?"

"Answer the lady, ruffians." mockingly continued the Nameless Knight while pointing his blade the closest one's back. "Or she may answer it for you."

Asuna, Argo, Klein, and his group arrived at the scene in time to see the elves screaming that they surrendered as they dropped their weapons and raised their hands, falling to their knees.

"Kizmel!" shouted the rapier-user while shoving the defeated elves aside and rushing to her friend's side, hugging her. "You're okay!"

"Yes…yes, I am, Asuna." answered the dark elf with a soft smile while she hugged the girl back with her free arm.

"Man…you did all this to save Kizmel-chan?" asked Klein in awe while looking at the weapons littering the docks and the defeated elves, before looking towards the 'armored stranger'. "…that's awesome, dude! Don't know who you are, but thanks a lot! If my pal Kirito was here he would thank you too, no doubt, but we have no idea where he went."

The two female players present looked towards the samurai-wannabe at his words, as if unable to believe what he was saying, even more when the rest of his future guild/friends also praised the 'armored man'.

"…are you fucking serious?" deadpanned Argo while pointing towards him. "This guy is clearly…"

"Thanks for your kind words, brave samurai, but there are not needed. This Nameless Knight was just doing what anyone would do." declared the mysterious newcomer before dramatically sheathing his blade and walking towards the edge of the pier without looking back, confusing everyone. "And now, I bid you all farewell."

Then, unceremoniously, the 'Nameless Knight' jumped into the water, his armor making him sink like a rock on the noticeably deep lake, the members of Fuurinkazan rushing to the edge in shock and looking down into the depths.

"…who the hell was that weirdo?"

"I don't know, but he was badass!"

"I wonder if we will ever see him again…?"

"…they're not messing with us, are they?" asked Asuna while deadpanning towards the men still talking about the 'unknown armored hero'. "Because that was obviously Ki…"

"Let it be, Asuna. Some 'mysteries' are better left 'unknown'." stopped her Kizmel with a small chuckle, looking down towards the water at the same point Klein and his friends were. "Like whomever that mysterious 'Nameless Knight' actually was, heh…"

At the same time, not far from there…Kirito the swordsman surfaced with a loud gasp, glad to not have drowned, and reached towards one of the rocks that would let him get back into the castle, idly using one hand to finish un-equipping the armor he had 'borrowed' from the elven armory when he went looking for Kizmel's weapon, a part of him still unable to believe all that madness had actually worked.

"…then again, I'm supposed to be the 'protagonist' and my bullshit Skill was active to help me save her, so I guess that factors in all of this…but God did I felt dumb wearing that armor and saying all those anime-esque lines." mirthlessly chuckled the gamer before staring back towards his Inventory window. "I should probably go and return this thing to the castle right away…"

 **[You gained 30 Affection Points with Heroine Kizmel!]**

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Shiori!]**

 **[You gained 15 Affection Points with Heroine Asuna!]**

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the achievement 'Heroic Rescue'! You gain +2 in Charm!]**

 **[Congratulations! You gained the Title 'Nameless Knight'!]**

 **[Nameless Knight]: You're a mysterious warrior from a faraway land. Girls love those! Your identity is a mystery and your deeds are exaggerated every time they're told! (Grants 'Identity Protection' against any Non-Heroine characters when dressed/acting as this persona. Makes people start saying crazy things about you)**

For several seconds, the black-haired boy just hung there, half his body still in the water, his gaze moving from the Notifications to the 'dumb-looking armor' on his inventory.

Later that day, when Kirito's party left Yofel castle on their small gondola, Fuurinkazan biding them farewell on a bigger boat, none of them would know a certain set of armor had gone missing from the armory, though everyone inside would attribute it to the repelled invaders.

And so, life on Aincrad got even crazier…

* * *

 **January 28th, 2023. 10th Floor Labyrinth, Aincrad. Before the Boss Room's door, 10:30…**

"…I really miss Kizmel…"

"I know, Aa-chan. we all do, really, but repeating it endlessly since the day before yesterday isn't going to change things."

"Well…we all knew she couldn't really 'stay' with us forever, Asuna. In the end, as 'human' as she was and as much as we loved being with her, she was still a Quest NPC. She had to go away once the campaign was over." reminded Kirito while patting Asuna in the back, attempting to comfort the sad chestnut-haired girl.

He pointedly ignored the annoyed glares Kibaou's group, the only ones who still had any reason to dislike him since Floor 1, sent their way, absentmindedly giving them the middle finger with the hand he still had under his ragged cloak (He never was going to get rid of it at this point).

After all, they may be about to face the 10th Boss of Aincrad, an important milestone on their way to freedom, but that didn't mean he couldn't afford to comfort his 'friend' (And that was all she was, no matter what new stupid thing his power said about their 'relationship status'), especially when she was the one that had been affected the most after Kizmel left them.

Being fair, when they said their goodbyes to Kizmel at the end of the previous floor, the Dark Elf also looked extremely sad, especially with how many close calls they all had during the last and crazier stages of the whole 'Elf War' (Kirito still thought it was utter bullshit they managed to settle everything with peace between the elves, but he wasn't really going to complain when things had ended so well). Wishing them for the best on their adventures from that day onwards, the lilac-haired girl had hugged them one last time before walking away.

That had been 3 days ago and even the black-haired boy couldn't deny how much he missed her presence with them. Argo was the one that hid it well, but the gamer had seen her more than once glancing to one side and seeming about to speak with someone that wasn't there during the last two days (God bless his awareness for females thanks to his dumb stats, he supposed), only to fall oddly silent after realizing what she was doing.

Maybe one day they could look back on those precious times with Kizmel and smile fondly, but right now, all they could do was push onwards with hardened hearts, always keeping the memory of the beautiful dark elf on their minds. Kirito could almost even see her, looking at him with that lovely smile of her as she stopped before them and…

"Are you gonna stare at me like that all day or are we going to get ready for battle, Kirito?"

The three players blinked. Slowly, everyone else that was part of the Front Lines also turned, shocked, even as Argo gapped and pointed with a shaky finger towards the figure standing before them like she was a ghost, Asuna covering her mouth while happy tears filled her eyes, even as the swordsman could only STARE, almost considering maybe he was just seeing things…

 **[Kizmel: 'Elven Knight']**

 **[Relationship Status: Sworn Partners (?)]**

 **[Affection Points: 15/100]**

…but no, those haunting screens above her head weren't something he would ever imagine, mainly because his brain was just too nice to dare making them up.

"…Kizmel?"

"In the flesh!" replied the Dark Elf with a quite vibrant smile, patting her armored chest as she did so. "I came back…to stay with you all, if you will have me."

"Oh, Kizmel!" cried Asuna while enveloping the lilac-haired girl in a bone-crushing hug, making her laugh. "Of course you can! W-we're like family, snif, remember?"

"Bu-but…I thought you had to go back? Aren't you some important knight now?" questioned Argo with a trembling voice, almost as if refusing to accept she had just come back to them.

"I quit." simply informed Kizmel while shrugging, even as the three gave her shocked looks. "We're at peace now, remember? What use is there for knights? I asked the Queen and she gave me her blessing to go with you. From now on, I'm a free elf. And where my family goes, I go."

From a moment to the next, the Info Broker had joined the hug, the dark elf's smile growing as she patted the whiskered girl's head.

"…welcome back, Kii-chan." whispered Argo while trying to hide her own happy tears.

"I'm glad to be back, Argo." muttered the lilac-haired girl before looking at the silent and still obviously shocked last member of their self-proclaimed 'family'. "C'mon, Kirito?"

 _"…oh, screw it."_ thought the gamer before smiling and awkwardly joining the group hug, feeling the girls shifting under his arms.

Once again, he pointedly ignoring the sounds behind them, which varied from sobs to cheers and even a couple people celebrating 'Kizmel-chan's return' or cursing the 'Lucky Bastard'. The boy wasn't going to let them ruin the touching moment.

Suffice to say, Kagachi the Samurai Lord, Aincrad's 10th Floor Boss, was soundly defeated by an especially motivated and in high spirits clearing party, and the celebrations in the 11th Floor lasted until very late. All in all, it could be considered a gloriously victorious day.

…which was why Kirito wasn't expecting, when he went to bed that night in the inn, to find Kizmel dutifully sitting at the edge of his bed. Naked.

"…Kizmel, what the hell?"

"Oh, Kirito, you're finally here! I was starting to get worried, I didn't want to disappoint in my first official day, after all."

"Your first…official day?"

"As one of your women, of course. Like Argo and Asuna, I would like to share your bed…and more, if you wish, as I'm sure you have done with them more than once when I was not around."

"…for the last time, they're not 'my women', we're just friends! So please, put on some clothes!"

"Are you sure? If you really haven't gotten to that level with them yet, I wouldn't mind being your first…"

"I'm NOT having this conversation, I just want to sleep!"

"…okay then, if that's your wish, I can't deny it. Let's sleep and rest after that grand battle."

"…why are you _still_ naked?"

"I assumed I wouldn't need my sleeping clothes anymore once I openly became one of your women, so I left them back in Yofel castle."

It was then and there, with a never-ending mental scream, that Kirito, no, that Kirigaya Kazuto, swore something with all his heart.

He was going to get out of this game and then, even if it cost him the rest of his life, he was going to find whatever gave him these powers…and proceed to commit suicide by charging at them, because he sure as hell knew there was no way he could stand a chance against anything able to grant reality-breaking eroge powers to a teenager.

On Its Throne above Everything, [FATE] grumbled, the Omniversal equivalent to a headache starting to fill Its existence when [LIFE] and [DEATH] shared another of their omniversally wrong bouts of sisterly laughter.

That was creepy on way too many levels, for the Omniverse's sake…

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Black Kitties aren't always Bad Luck!

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Man, that was quite a fun chapter to write. Did you all enjoy it? I certainly hope so XP

Those of you who follow SAO Progressive may have noticed some discrepancies and parallels in events, but I assure you those were intentional, especially with Kizmel's way more detailed legend about 'the creation of Aincrad' (Did you get the hidden future reference, SAO Gameverse fans :P?).

Oh, and Kirito got a new look (The ragged cloaked swordsman doesn't sound that cool, eh XD?) and has developed a weird alter ego. The Gamer gives you bullshit super abilities that rend reality apart in cool ways, but the Eroge Protagonist just let him turn into a different kind of walking fantasy-eroge cliché with the 'power' of not being found out by irrelevant characters XD (Oh, and turns washing someone's back into a Skill worthy of an H-protagonist too :D) Fun, and there is totally no way that can backfire, eh?

Well, that was all of Progressive we had to cover! Kizmel-chan officially joins Kirito's Har…I mean, party, and she's here to stay! Next time, we go back to our scheduled main SAO shenanigans when a certain guild is saved, and more misunderstandings ensue. Can our hero keep avoiding triggering more and more serious flags :3? Probably not!

Until then, though, this is Saint, signing off!


	4. Scene 3: Black Kitties aren't Bad Luck!

Oh my God, I can't believe it! This story already reached the 200 reviews mark?! You guys are awesome :D! (Congrats to otsoawulf for leaving the 200th review!)

That aside, I'm truly glad of how much you all seem to be enjoying this crazy and silly idea, I'm having lots of fun with it too, to be honest, so I hope we can keep it up wherever it goes XP

As always, help filling this story's TvTropes page is appreciated, but for now I shall leave you with the latest _bizarre_ chapter of this madness XD

Enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 3:** **Black Kitties aren't always Bad Luck!**

 **April 8th, 2023. 20th Floor, Aincrad. Forest near a Field Dungeon, 10:30…**

The young girl known as Sachi within the virtual world didn't know what they had been thinking, going out there when they weren't properly prepared for it.

Then again, maybe she was also to blame, having accepted to come with her friends out into the field despite how she felt about it all. The mix of guilt and having run out of excuses combined with the fear of Keita and the others leaving her behind after he declared they were going to train and become part of the Front Lines.

Of course, this was not the first time she felt like that. She was the shyest person in her class, the only girl in the computer club, the one that was never good at games at all but still stuck with her friends because she didn't want to feel left out…it seemed as if her life was fated to always be like that, really.

Likewise, she was terrified of fighting since they got there, hence why she had the lowest level, and also why she was fighting with a spear despite not being particularly good at it, to take advantage of the weapon's long range and 'stay away from the monsters'.

And now, because of that, she was falling to the ground as her spear slipped from her hands, and a horse-sized praying mantis was about to kill her. Joy.

Even as all she could do was scream and cover her face, Sachi couldn't help but think about the unfairness of it all, the most childish part of her lamenting real life wasn't like the fairytales her mother would tell her about when she was a kid. Nothing bad happened to the good people in them, and she liked to think she had been a good girl all her life (Mostly because she would never be brave enough to do anything 'bad', really).

If life was like a fairytale, this would be the moment when an unexpected miracle would save her life, like the burning vision of that sword executing a 'Horizontal' Skill…wait, what?

"Eh…?" gasped the dark-haired girl while looking up in shock at a ragged cloak fluttering just before her, the figure under it finishing the monster she had been struggling against as if it was no big deal.

Then, without any fanfare, he _moved_ , faster and with more grace than anyone she had ever seen before, rushing against the foes each of her friends was fighting against and dispatching them in seconds, Sword Skills longer and most complex than she knew existed being unleashed, leaving not only her but also the four boys that formed the rest of her guild in awe.

Meanwhile, as the last of the (In his eyes) trash mobs was brutally murdered, Kirito sighed as he lowered his blade, turning around to regard the 5 wide-eyed players he had just saved, offering them his best attempt at a shaky smile.

Certainly, when he had (Miraculously) managed to convince the girls of letting him do a quick trip down there to the 20th Floor (With the current Front Line being at the 28th one), encountering what looked like a bunch of noobs about to die because they were in over their heads in the middle of a field wasn't what he was expecting.

Then again, nothing seemed to go quite like he was expecting in his life since he got trapped in that accursed Death Game…or maybe from a month before that, to be precise, and…the looks they were giving him were honestly starting to creep him out, so it would probably be better if he said something.

"So, uhm…are you all okay?"

As they snapped out of their stupor and the tallest of them closed in with a joyous smile, Kirito wondered why he felt as if maybe he should have just walked away…

* * *

"And that's another one down." proudly smiled Asuna as the latest monster they had been fighting against shattered into nothingness. "Great work again today, girls!"

"Man, sometimes you really make me jealous of how easy fighting seems to come to you, Aa-chan." commented Argo with a playful smile from where she was sitting on a nearby rock. "Then again, I get to enjoy your efforts firsthand myself so I'm not complaining."

"You know, you could maybe put it in a way that it doesn't seem as if I'm doing all the work…" grumbled the chestnut-haired girl while shaking her head, even as the last member of their group chuckled at the familiar sight.

"Let her be, Asuna. At this point you should know that's Argo's way to try and subtly assert her domination over you to try and claim the position of Kirito's first woman." casually 'explained' Kizmel while sheathing her scimitar, making the whiskered-girl to squeak and slip off her rock-seat even as the rapier-user blushed furiously and mock-glared at her.

"Ki-Kizmel, fo-for the last time, i-it's not like that at all!…right, Argo?"

"Why did you sound so doubtful for a moment there?! A-and yes, that's right! Kii-chan, stop thinking those silly things of yours, I'm NOT trying to become Kirito's first woman!"

"I see…so, in your eyes, given you know him the longest, you already are, uh?"

"Ye…I mean, NO!"

"…you almost just said yes, right?! You to-totally did, Argo!"

"N-no, Aa-chan, you're mistaken! I mean, even if it's obvious that Kii-bou would totally choose me if that was the case, I'm not…"

"Excuse me?! Why did you sound so confident about that?!"

"Ehm…I…Kii-chan, look at the mess you have caused! Wha-what do you have to say for yourself?!"

"I have no real problem with either outcome; I don't really mind being his third woman. My dedication and affection towards Kirito won't change no matter who wins, just like my affection for you both won't either."

Argo barely resisted the urge to groan and slam her face against the rock she had just fallen from, especially at noticing how Asuna was still looking at her with that angered/flustered look she so casually now wore these days, barely resisting the urge to viciously point that out and entering into another teasing-war against her, which she was sure to win like every time.

That had started to lose its appeal since Kizmel's 'joyous return', because it had quickly filled them with a mix of outrage and shock upon seeing the dark elf casually declaring her wish of 'being Kirito's woman', just like them (In her words).

Sadly, trying to 'dissuade' the girl from her approach was just a step less useless, even when attempted by Kirito himself, than trying to convince themselves it was just a thing she said because of being 'an NPC', mainly because at this point none of them considered the dark elf as anything but a person, as quirky as she was, even with all this nonsense about being Kirito's women. As if.

Sure, she may consider the boy a great friend, and the most dependable person she had ever met, and a comfortable and determined presence always pushing forward without hesitation, looking out for them as much as they did for him, and that considered them as equals and trusted partners, and maybe those words he said to her the night of the first day still came to her mind every time he did something that 'shook her', making her feel all tingly inside and her heart to start hammering so hard it felt as if it was about to burst from her chest and…and holy fucking shit, she was crushing so hard on the black-haired boy it wasn't even funny. And, for anyone with eyes on their face, Asuna was too.

She didn't know what was the worst of that situation, if the knowledge of it all, or the fact that they had a third 'contender' for said boy's affection…that wasn't a contender at all because she assumed it was perfectly normal for them all to be with him at the same time, and also had a very direct and physically-expressive idea of what 'being his woman' meant (Something she couldn't even blame on Kayaba Akihiko, as much as she wanted to, because she was pretty sure he hadn't really cared for the elves' background lore enough to make such details, so this had to have been made by the Cardinal system thinking it would fit…for some reason).

That was totally the only reason she and Asuna now made it a point to sleep with Kirito (Despite his, surprisingly weak, protests at the beginning) every night, to make sure the dark elf didn't sneak in his bed thinking it was 'her duty as his woman'. Really. No other motive.

But, at the end of the day, this wasn't something they could let distract them from their goal of freedom, especially not after the disaster that was the 25th Floor Boss. The absurd difficulty of that Floor aside (Having had the biggest number of casualties in the Floor itself than ever before), the monstrosity that had been the 'Super Boss' there combined with Kibaou's stupidity reaching its peak cost them a lot of good and skilled players, their victory when everyone else got there in time to stop it from being a complete catastrophe (Thanks to Klein's stupid…vehicle, because she refused to even think that silly name) having felt pyrrhic at best.

The Aincrad Liberation Squad having abandoned the Front Lines had been both a blessing and a curse, being free of the idiotic cactus-headed man not having been worth the people who died or the loss of a third of the clearing group. If it hadn't been for the Knights of Blood appearing and debuting on the next floor, they would have probably been very screwed.

While the Info Broker was a bit reticent about the new guild, she couldn't deny Heathcliff's effectiveness both as a warrior and a commander, never mind that he had apparently been able to bring the chronically depressed Diavel back to the fight as his Second in Command…

 _"Yes, Argo, you have more than enough problems as it is, so leave anything even remotely romance-related aside, like you have always done."_ told herself the whiskered girl while closing her eyes. _"After we get out of here and recover, then you can drag Kii-bou to the closest love hot…talk it out like out like normal people! Yes, that's totally what I meant, no-nothing else!"_

"…Argo? Are you okay?" asked a suddenly worried Asuna upon seeing her friend's face twisting into a strange mixture she couldn't quite identify after she closed her eyes.

"U-uh?! Ye-yes, Aa-chan, perfectly okay! No weird or impure thoughts about Kii-bou in my head at all!"

"…that was some oddly specific denial." pointed out Kizmel while taking a bite of a sandwich they had bought earlier that day.

Argo had never been more grateful for the sound of a Message arriving than at that moment, quickly operating her menu with enough emphasis to make what she was doing obvious and stop the rapier-user from saying anything, mentally cursing when she was unable to not smile at seeing it was a message from Kirito…before blinking upon its contents, deadpanning as she reread it and confirmed that no, she hadn't read that wrong.

Before any of the other two could question her on the face she was making, the Info Broker simply made the message visible for everyone in her menu and flipped it around so that they could see it.

 _'From: Kirito'_

 _'Saved a guild of noobs and they have kidnapped me to an inn as thanks for doing so. Don't like parties. Please, help.'_

Silence reigned in the small field.

Meanwhile, on a certain inn of Floor 20, Kirito did his best to smile while Keita, the leader of the 'Moonlit Black Cats' guild, kept chanting him praises, which his fellow male guildmates (Tetsuo, Sasamaru, and Ducker if he remembered it right) did the same.

Of course, they weren't exactly the reason why he regretted not having run away as soon as he had saved them, no. That was directly related to the young girl standing beside and looking up at him as if he was the most amazing thing she had seen in her life…

 **[Hayami Saori: 'Helpless Noob']**

 **[Relationship Status: 'Prince Charming']**

 **[Affection Points: 20/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: Saori, known as Sachi within Sword Art Online, is the only girl in her school's computer club, which combined with her extreme shyness, lack of self-confidence, bravery or determination has always made her the 'silent follower' of the group. Being trapped in SAO with her friends is probably the worst situation for her, as she has a chronicle fear of fighting monsters and no drive to overcome it. You saved her life, and that of her friends, in the most amazing way she had ever seen, so now she sees you as the kind of Hero she thought only existed in fairytales]**

…it was kinda sad how he was more worried about the name of their current 'relationship status' than anything else at this point. Truly, while this Sachi girl's situation was a bit worrying, he already had more than enough problems in his life without trying to be goddamn Hero-wannabe that tried to help everyone he came across with every problem they had. On a side note, maybe next time he stumbled upon someone and had to save their lives he should consider showing off a bit less…

"…and that's why, Kirito, thanks a lot again for saving us!" finished Keita whatever he had been saying, and that the black-haired boy honestly hadn't been paying much attention to, though he smiled nonetheless.

"Once again, all these thanks are unneeded, Keita-san, helping someone who needed it is just the natural thing anyone with the capacity of doing so would." awkwardly answered the gamer while scratching the back of his head.

"But man, you were so awesome! The way in which you handled all those monsters as if they were nothing…"

"And those Sword Skills! Man, I didn't know there could be some with so many hits…or that powerful!"

"Guess Front Liners are really something else, uh…?"

"Ma-maybe…" mumbled Kirito, feeling more than awkward at hearing them praise him like that, having never had to deal with anything like that, things having always been scorn and reluctant teamwork (Kibaou and his guild) or coordinated and friendly teamwork (Everyone else in the Front Lines, though Klein and the girls especially). "Hear, it has been great, but it's getting late and I should be getting back…I'm sure you probably want to go back whenever you're staying too…"

"Wait! Actually, there is something I want to ask you!" shouted the guild leader with a suddenly way more serious tone, surprising both his friends and the swordsman. "Kirito…could you train us?"

"…what?" asked the gamer with wide eyes, sure he had heard that wrong.

"Me and my friends…we want to become part of the Front Lines! That's why, with someone as amazing as you guiding us, I'm sure we would be able to!" declared the older boy with a burning determination in his eyes, raising a fist in an almost emotional way. "That way, we could one day become someone others can rely on…like HIM!"

As he said those words, Keita had pointed towards something on the wall behind the gamer, who promptly turned to look…and only his stupidly broken Dating Stats (Coupled with Sachi's presence at his side, no doubt) prevented him from face faulting at the sight of a certain 'wanted poster' on the wall.

After all, no matter how many times he had seen it before, the sight of the armored figure on it still made him cringe, especially with the words added after that:

 _Wanted for causing Chaos and randomly interfering with important Front Line Matters. If you have any info on the 'Nameless Knight', please contact the Aincrad Liberation Force._

"The Nameless Knight! That's a true, selfless hero right there! Always showing up out of nowhere when someone is in need of help and then going away without asking for anything in return, never even revealing his identity, as if to say he doesn't care about the recognition, just that he did a good job!" rambled Keita with an emotion-filled voice even as Kirito barely resisted the urge to crawl into a hole and hide. "If we have people as great as him fighting for us, then it's not our duty to try and help to clear this game?"

"I-I mean, that's a noble sentiment, but I don't know if that guy is the best example to follow…" mumbled the gamer while pointedly not looking at the older boy…casually happening to cross gazes with Sachi instead, the girl blushing slightly and looking away, making him curse. "Do-don't people say he's a crazy weirdo and accuse him of being a cheater or similar?"

"Bah, all of it lies expanded by that man with the cactus-hair from 'The Army'. The common players know all about the kindness of the Nameless Knight!" quickly dismissed Keita with a grin, giving the boy mixed feelings (Glad that not everyone seemingly bought Kibaou's bullshit but still embarrassed about the nigh-adoration he showed towards the 'Nameless Knight'). "So, what do you say, Kirito?! I know we're asking a lot and that you would probably employ such time in actually clearing the game, but I can assure you, I and my friends will make it worth your time! The Black Cats can become a force to be reckoned with in the Front Lines!"

"Well…I…" started to answer Kirito, wondering how he was going to get out of that…

"There you are, Kii-bou! We finally found you!"

…when the miracle he had been hoping for happened.

Granted, his relief upon seeing Argo, followed closely by Asuna and Kizmel, heading their way diminished a bit when he saw the Moonlit Black Cat's shocked looks, a few of them looking from the girls to him several times, as if suddenly realizing something.

"N-no way! A-Asuna the Flash, Argo the Rat and Kizmel the Dark Elf!"

"Uh?" spoke a confused rapier-user while moving her gaze from her black-haired friend to the shocked guild. "You know of us?"

"A-as if there was a single player in Aincrad who didn't!" replied Sachi while looking towards the 3 girls with utmost respect.

"Oh my God, I can't believe we're seeing you in person for real!" squeaked Tetsuo while the whiskered girl just sighed.

"Wa-wait…that's why the name was so familiar!" declared Ducker as if reaching an epiphany, his finger shooting towards the gamer with awe and envy in his eyes. "You're the Ladies Man Swordsman!"

Kirito shocked on virtual air (Again). Asuna and Argo turned a very interesting shade of red and almost tripped (While standing still). Kizmel…just tilted her head to the side.

"Wh-what?!" screamed the black-haired boy while all but squeezing the dagger-user's shoulders, making him squeak in fright. "What did you just call me?!"

"I-I mean…isn't that your title or something? Aren't you the legendary guy who has a party with the three most famous and beautiful girls in Aincrad?! Someone so amazing he even managed to attract an NPC?!"

"…don't look at me, I didn't start those rumors." quickly denied the whiskered girl when the gamer's desperate gaze moved to her. _"But when I find whoever did it…"_

"Tha-that's totally not like that at all! It's just baseless rumors!" quickly added the rapier-user while angrily stomping the ground, though the gesture looked more childish than menacing.

"Yeah, as they say, it's an inaccurate assessment." added the Dark Elf, much to her companions' surprise…until she said her next word. "After all, Kirito has yet to officially claim us as his women, despite my willingness and how Argo and Asuna keep monopolizing his bed every night."

Once again, Kirito found himself experimenting that strange need of walking to the closest floor edge and jump off Aincrad, which the awed/jealous looks the boys were sending his way weren't exactly helping repress.

…nor the fact that Sachi was sending a similar look towards the girls. GOD, how he missed the times when he would have been completely unable to notice those details…

It was almost an hour later when the group of four walked out of the inn and headed back to the Front Lines, though the look of shock in the only boy's face as he looked towards Argo's face was impossible to miss.

"Training them? Me? Seriously Argo?!"

"Kii-bou, this is actually a good thing in more ways than one, so I don't know why you're complaining so much." waved it off the whiskered girl while pointedly refusing to meet his eyes. "You can make sure these guys don't get themselves killed by mistake, we can make those stupid rumors to go away bit by bit if we're not seen with you for some time, and with the three of us still fighting on the Front Line it won't be as if we're neglecting clearing the game. Plus, you get some mini-vacations!"

"Those guys were struggling against mobs with the most basic patterns _and_ their leader is a Nameless Knight-fanboy!" almost screamed the gamer while barely resisting the urge to pull on his hair. "This is not going to be a vacation but a nightmare! All of them are so happy and friendly…you know I'm not good with new people!"

"You have no problems with us, though…" commented Asuna with a subdued voice.

"You're different, Asuna. Like, at this point I don't think there is anyone in the world I would trust more than you three, I always feel at home when I'm with you." sighed Kirito while shaking his head, ignoring the way in which his fellow players' faces flushed at his sincerity while their virtual companion smiled warmly. "What I mean to say is, I don't know if I can deal with those guys without screwing up…"

"Then this will also be a positive thing for you too, right?" as he said those words, the Info Broker turned around to face her fellow Beta Tester and put a finger on his chest, staring right in his eyes. "Didn't you boast that you never backed down from a challenge? Then go for it! Worst-case, you screw up and end up in bad terms with those guys. Big deal. But if you pull it off, we get new fresh and motivated members for the Front Lines and you get to develop your Social Skills a lot more!"

"I…think Argo is right, Kirito-kun. You should go for it!" agreed Asuna while giving him an encouraging look. "I'm sure this will be a positive experience for you! And we will be fine, you know? We're more than able to take care of ourselves for a while!"

Kizmel remained surprisingly silent during the whole conversation but gave a simple if confident nod towards Kirito the moment he looked her way.

"…well then, if you're so sure…" muttered the black-haired boy before taking a deep breath and looking at all three of them with a smile. "I guess I will…see you later, then."

"Geez, Kii-bou, we will be just a few Floors away and we can still talk through Messages, don't act as if it's the end of the world." grinned Argo before playfully punching his side. "Now get going before you get too depressed with the thought of not being around us and become unable to leave our side."

"Hah, hah, very funny Argo." 'laughed' the gamer while rolling his eyes, giving them all a last smile before walking off towards another part of the town, away from the Teleport Gate. "Until later!"

"Don't get into too many troubles, Kirito-kun! We won't be around to get you out of them!" joked Asuna while waving towards the boy's vanishing form.

"I won't!" shouted back the black-haired boy as he finally rounded a corner as he started messaging the Black Cats, out of sight.

Several seconds of silence ensued, during which the rapier-user kept waving and the whiskered girl continued smiling, Kizmel looking impassively from where Kirito had disappeared to the two of them.

"So…are we going to stand here all night or are you going to run after him and tell him to come back?" curiously questioned the dark elf to the two seemingly unresponsive girls, snapping them out of their abnormal states and making them look from her to where their closest 'friend' had gone to.

"…A-Argo, maybe we shouldn't have…?"

"Stop, Aa-chan. Thi-this is for the best…and besides, this is Kii-bou we're talking about! Sure, I have faith in him, but I bet you anything he will be back with us complaining about how much he screwed up in less than a week…"

And even as Argo continued trying to convince Asuna (And herself) of her words as they headed for the Teleport Gate, Kizmel couldn't help but sigh before sending one last longing glance back and finally following after her female friends.

The Dark Elf seriously wondered why humans couldn't be more honest with themselves.

* * *

 **June 21st, 2023. 27th Floor, Aincrad. Fields near the main city, 16:30…**

"Great job, Sasamaru! Now take on the other! Tetsuo, back him up! Ducker, keep Keita's flank protected! Sachi, support anyone who gets blindsided!"

"HAI!"

With that unified cry, the Moonlit Black Cats charged forward, Kirito staying behind with a small smile at seeing them display such flawless teamwork, feeling oddly proud of that.

It had been a bit over two months since he became their 'trainer' and the black-haired boy could honestly say he had been enjoying it way more than he originally thought.

If he ignored their over-friendliness and the awe they showed towards his persona (And that had thankfully toned down a bit since he met them), the computer club friends were actually very good and honest people, the kind that didn't really belong to that Death Game but was willing to put their best effort into helping out, and it showed: While he wouldn't really say they were 'Front Line Material' yet, they were getting there bit by bit, and their teamwork developed under his guidance and based on their trust as longtime friends was all but flawless by now.

Of course, the gamer had to admit it was a bit embarrassing when some of them called him 'Kirito-sempai' (Especially when he was pretty sure Keita at least was older than him by a year), but all the benefits that had come with it made putting up with that more than enjoyable.

It had been weeks in which he hadn't felt stressed out of his mind or as if he was about to do something he would regret, no horribly tantalizing temptations surrounding him at all hours, no urges to put on a stupid armor and run around acting like some walking cliché just to vent, and his 'Stats' hadn't even gotten any higher from the time he met them!

 **[Dating Stats]**

 **Charm: 31**

 **Wisdom: 49**

 **Aura: ?**

Sure, he missed Argo, Asuna and Kizmel, but it wasn't as if he didn't talk with them every day through Messages, and he had obviously met with them briefly for the few Boss battles that had been going on in the meantime (Three, as the current Front Line was the 31st Floor). And even better, there was the fact…

"We did it!" cheered Sachi once the last monster was taken care of, turning towards the pensive swordsman and smiling as she raised her lance. "Did you see that, Kirito?"

 **[Hayami Saori: 'Cheerful Black Cat]**

 **[Relationship Status: 'Prince Charming']**

 **[Affection Points: 30/100]**

…Sachi's Affection Points barely rose at all despite how much they interacted together! It was almost, like, the total opposite of Asuna, something that made being close to the girl very relaxing in his eyes. Also, it seemed those stupid rumors about him and the girls were actually dying down a bit since he started training the small guild. Everything was good.

Those were the thoughts on his mind as he smiled back at the black-haired girl and finished writing his first Message of the day to Argo.

"Yeah, I did, Sachi. You all just keep getting better and better."

And while the Moonlit Black Cats cheered and thanked their 'Sempai' for his dedication, much to his embarrassment, on the Front Lines…

"…oh, look…Kii-bou is apparently taking them to train at the 27th Labyrinth tomorrow all by himself because Keita is planning on buying his guild a guild house." emptily muttered Argo while staring at the message.

"…that's nice…" mumbled Asuna from where she sat on the bed, hugging a pillow to herself and looking at it as if it was about to tell her some deep secret.

Kizmel didn't say anything, though there was a noticeable scowl in the usually more relaxed Dark Elf as she stared at the ground. Finally, though, she seemed unable to stay quiet, so she looked up and opened her mouth…only for the whiskered girl to beat her to the punch.

"2 and half months! It's been THAT freaking long! Why hasn't he come back by himself already?! Why hasn't he actually _visited_ us and acted as if everything was fine during the Boss fights?!" screamed the Info Broker while she raised her hands into the air, with the look of someone unable to contain herself any longer. "And why does it bother me so much?!"

"I…I really miss him too, Argo." accepted the rapier-user with a voice that sounded so weak it was totally out of place in the normally confident chestnut-haired girl. "Leveling up feels empty, getting new weapons and farming tedious and boring without him around, and…Gods, I can't believe I'm accepting this aloud, but…I can't even sleep properly since he went away…"

"…me neither." mumbled Argo while feeling numb as she let herself fall back-first on the closest bed. "Gods, what's wrong with us…?"

"There is nothing 'wrong' at all, it's just that you haven't been honest with yourselves until this very moment." harshly spoke Kizmel to her two friends, though with a hint of understanding in her voice. "You didn't even really want Kirito to go away in the first place and it's obvious that, if it came down to it, you wouldn't even mind those 'rumors' your fellow humans spread as long as he was still here with us! We may be his women, but he's also OUR man! So, I ask you, what in the name of the ancestors are you going to do about it?!"

For a moment, both girls fell into a shocked silence as they _stared_ towards the passionate-looking Dark Elf…before a strange determination seemed to burn in their eyes as they stood up as one.

"You're right…you're totally right, Kii-chan! Kii-bou belongs at our side, not training those noobs!"

"Yeah! They have gotten pretty good already, right?! Then let them keep going by themselves, they don't need him to keep babysitting them!"

"Hell yeah, Aa-chan! I don't care if we're being greedy or if those stupid rumors come back with a vengeance, tomorrow we're going to crash this dungeon farming of them and will show Kii-bou why he can't be in any better place than with us!"

"Even if we have to drag him back with us all the way!"

"Atta girl! That's the spirit!"

"And then we will tie him to this bed and force him to finally take us as his women!"

"YE…! Eh?!"

"…wasn't that the logical conclusion as to which this conversation was going?" asked Kizmel in confusion at seeing the faces both players were making after hearing her declaration.

Inwardly, though, she felt pleased to notice, no matter how much they would deny it if she brought it up, that they didn't seem fully opposed to the idea.

Hmm, maybe she should pay a visit to the lower Floors to visit her Queen and humbly ask if she would be willing to officiate a special ceremony…?

* * *

"Dammit…Sachi, where the hell are you?" tiredly muttered Kirito while looking up towards the night sky (Well…next floor's lower part, but you get it).

Of course, the only reason he wasn't actually shouting it was because he knew it would be pointless. After all, if the girl, who had apparently run out of the Inn they were all staying at without explanation, wasn't answering her Messages, then she clearly didn't want to be found so calling out to her wouldn't really help at all.

Though honestly, the black-haired boy was starting to get truly worried. After all, they were all out there searching for her and there was still no news, despite having been looking for the girl for almost an hour.

The gamer was already considering if he shouldn't message Argo and the rest to help looking for the spear-user when he walked down another street and, to his surprise, caught a glimpse of someone sitting under a bridge.

Once he got down, Kirito saw how, effectively, Sachi was there, staring silently at the water of the small 'river' with a thoughtful look in her face, seemingly unaware of his presence.

"…so, that's where you were, uh, Sachi?"

"Kirito?!" shouted the girl while looking up and then towards him, apparently not having noticed he was there at all, just as the boy suspected. "Si-since when have you been there?"

"Just now, actually, but I'm going to guess from your expression that you didn't notice. In fact…are you even aware we have been messaging you since an hour ago?" seeing the shocked expression in the spear-user's face before she quickly looked towards her HUD's corner and opened her menu were all the answer the gamer needed, barely suppressing the need to sigh. "What's wrong, Sachi?"

"Ah…well, I was just…thinking, I guess." muttered Sachi while looking away from him, embarrassment and worry clear on her face from having caused such a commotion mixed with whatever had driven her there in the first place. "It's just…Kirito…do you think we can really do it? Get to the Front Lines?"

"Uh, yes? I mean, that's why you have all been training for, right?" asked Kirito while trying to pretend not knowing more than he should, sitting close to her but still at a respectable distance. "Are you perhaps having doubts about it?"

"I think…you could say. It's complicated, though. Before…before you came along, I was truly terrified of the mere idea of fighting. I was sure we…or at least, I, was going to end up killed in the field. But…you saved us." softly spoke the girl while looking towards the boy with a grateful smile. "And not only that…you stuck with us, helped us get stronger, taught us how to be better…became our friend. All without asking for anything in return. It…it made me very happy, actually made me think that…maybe we had a chance at this. Not only surviving but actually getting there to the front…to help clear the game."

"But?" softly asked the gamer with his own smile.

"I…am still the weakest. No matter how much better we get, no matter how much our teamwork improves…I still can see how everyone leaves me behind. How I'm the weaker link." confessed Sachi while closing her eyes, clenching her fists in clear frustration while Kirito watched in silence. "It makes me feel…perhaps worse than I did before. After all, what's being scared of dying…compared to being scared of getting all your friends killed if you mess up? Maybe…maybe they would be better off if I just…ran away…"

Frowning at the words, the black-haired boy opened his mouth, determined to convince the girl of how wrong she was…when, for the first time in months, the world lost all color around him, taking the gamer by surprise as 3 Choices materialized themselves…with a haunting extra 'warning' that he hadn't seen since his first month within SAO.

 **A-[Maybe you're right…]**

 **B-[Don't worry, Sachi. I will protect you]**

 **C-[…do you honestly believe that?]**

 ***Warning: Choosing the Wrong Choice will forever Block this Heroine's Route.**

For a moment, the gamer just stared blankly at the screens before sighing and closing his eyes, cursing and mumbling several times before fully analyzing the situation.

He already knew this stupid 'power' of him couldn't care less about him or what he wanted. It just did its own thing, and he could either play along to speed it up or try his damned best to oppose it, but that ultimately only seemed to slow it down. His 'relaxed' time with the Black Cats and how Sachi's 'Affection' barely seemed to go up had apparently made him forget that.

Now then…Sachi was a good girl. A great girl, in fact. Shy and kind, always worried for one thing or another and, once she had gained a bit more confidence, someone you could rely on for almost everything not fight-related (And she had gotten noticeably better with that too). And while she may not have the 'regal' beauty of Asuna or the 'exotic' one of Kizmel, she was still pretty cute in his eyes. Under normal circumstances, Kirito was sure he could have maybe fallen for her with enough time.

The problem…was his stupid Power. Thanks to it, the boy doubted he could ever safely believe anyone could take an honest liking to him because every single time there would be this voice on the back of his mind telling him how the girls around him only liked him for that reality-warping ability.

What did he know about Sachi anyway, besides what his power had told him and the everyday interactions they had so far? Nothing. Hell, for all he knew she may have fancied one of her friends before he came along with his Dating Sim Protagonist fanfare and made her fall for him. That thought alone should be enough to make him both felt terrible and also for the familiar but almost forgotten sensation of a terrible headache to form within his head. By all means, he should choose the Option A, hurting Sachi's confidence terribly, but ensuring she would survive and live a happy life, away from him.

Still…

Once again, the boy's gaze moved towards the 'Warning' he had only ever seen when he met Asuna for the first time.

He had no proof of it but somehow the gamer felt that 'Forever Block this Heroine's Route' had a single, very dark, meaning, and it just further reminded him that whoever or whatever higher power had granted him this ability probably only saw him as a source of amusement.

If he tried to get away from this, that innocent girl could very likely pay the maximum price. On the other hand, if he chose to screw his life even further and deal with even more madness and probably an untold amount of headaches (That he was sure would cause him to snap at some point), she would get blessed by some Reality-breaking bullshit that would protect her as long as he was around.

It said something very sad about Kirigaya Kazuto that he, who had spent almost four years of his life shutting himself from everyone close to him, didn't even hesitate in what to choose.

"Let's see…Option A is out, obviously. No way in hell emotionally hurting her would bring about any Good Ending." mumbled Kirito as he left behind his troubled personas as a normal teenager and as a swordsman within a Floating Castle to fully sink into the one he needed the most: A young gamer that had played several eroges. "Option B looks like the right choice…only if I was a fool that would fall for an easy trick of a scriptwriter, of course. Sachi is a 'character' whose entire problems lie around being unable to help herself and all the fears that come from that. Promising I will always protect her doesn't really help her, it just makes the problem worse and it also sounds like a terrible Death Flag. Therefore…"

Nodding with determination, the gamer let his hand slam over Choice C, feeling like crying and terribly proud at the same time as he felt Reality rearranging itself around him.

"…do you honestly believe that, Sachi?" seriously spoke Kirito while standing up and looking down at the surprised girl, all of it being actions some higher force was forcing his body to execute.

"Wha-what?"

"I asked if you really have so little faith in yourself to think that, Sachi of the Moonlit Black Cats."

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

 **[A Special Event has been Triggered!]**

"Ki-Kirito…?" questioned Sachi with trepidation even as the boy felt a rush of fear upon seeing the prompt he hadn't seen since his time 'accidentally romancing' Sugu appearing again, though his current state didn't exactly let him show that.

"Hear me out, Sachi: You're a normal person, like everyone else here. No one in this place, not even me, was born to be a great warrior or a hero or anything like that. Ordinary people, through extraordinary circumstances, become what we all understand with that concept." continued the gamer while offering a hand towards the wide-eyed girl, who seemed to drink in every single one of his words. "There will be a moment when everyone, maybe even me, will have to rely on you, an instance where _you_ will be the only one that can rise up to the challenge. And so, I ask of you…are you really going to run away from that?"

As he felt the rush of his power's control over his actions and words vanished, Kirito almost feared for a moment that he had chosen wrong or maybe pushed the spear-user too hard…before her hand shot up to grab his and he reflexively helped her up, barely suppressing his shock at the fiercely determined smile on her face.

"No, Kirito. I won't." whispered Sachi before hugging him, the black-haired boy reflexively patting her head when she did so. "Thanks for that."

"Yo-you're welcome, Sachi. In return, though…could you promise me one thing?"

"A-ah? Su-sure, anything, Kirito! What is it?"

"If I ever look like I'm about to become an angsty and edgy person, please, hit me with your spear in the head. Repeatedly."

"…eh?"

"What you heard. Now…how about we get back before the others get even more worried?"

Despite his words, the gamer was the one that was immensely worried the whole night, continuously expecting a carnival, some weird attraction or an unexpected event to come at him to make (Read as 'force in an abnormally natural way') Sachi and him closer.

When nothing happened and, the next day, he and the rest (Sans the absent Keita) were already moving through the 27th Floor Labyrinth, his worry had only increased tenfold, to the point he was having troubles maintaining the usual calm 'mask' he had on most of the time (As he actually spend a lot of it stressed about his 'power').

'To Protect that Smile' had never been 'subtle' so far whenever it activated, in fact it had been the total opposite, but he also had to take into account that the only time it had 'triggered an event' had been with Sugu, and it had done so by creating an entire festival for them to go had fun in. This time, though, the uncaring and stupidly broken Skill had been activated directly by one of his 'Choices', something that he had no experience with. And given the setting of the Death Game, there was a high chance of it doing something absurd but that still related with SAO somehow, like…

"Kirito, are you okay?" asked Sachi with a slightly worried tone, snapping the black-haired boy out of his inner worries and making him look at her in surprise. "You have been spacing out for a while now…"

"Ye-yeah, Sachi, it's nothing. I was just thinking if Keita would have luck finding…wait. Where are the others?" asked the gamer upon noticing the other three boys had vanished.

"Oh, they went ahead when I told them I was going to see what had you so worried…"

The dark-haired girl hadn't even finished her words and Kirito was already dashing forward, an ominous feeling consuming him as he rushed towards the end of the hallway, ignoring the spear-user's worried cries behind him.

Turning the corner, he was greeted by another hallway, the entrance towards a small room at one side…and the sound of excited voices within.

Sprinting as if his life depended on it, the black-haired boy arrived at the entrance just in time to see Tetsuo, Sasamaru, and Ducker gathered around a Treasure Chest lying on the center of the room, even as a panting Sachi reached his side.

"What the hell are you three doing?!"

"Uh?" asked the group's dagger-user in confusion, just as he touched the chest…and everything in the room turned an angry red color, the entrance to it closing loudly behind Kirito and Sachi, making the former curse as he rushed to the frozen boys' side. "Shi-shit!"

"Seriously, Ducker?!" all but screamed the gamer while glaring at him and at the other two, seemed about to lose it even as the sound of spawning monsters filled the room, devilish-looking goblins and tall golems suddenly surrounding them. "An empty treasure chest in the middle of a big empty room?! What kind of gamer are you that you can't tell that scream TRAP with capital letters?!"

"Gu-guys, this is no time for that!" shouted the only girl present with fright as the monsters slowly closed in, the males in the room quickly cursing and raising their weapons, standing back to back. "Wa-wait, don't forget to check the treasure chest, it may have something to save us!"

"What? Sachi, that's not how trap work in these games!" groaned Kirito while the spear-user opened the chest that had doomed them and reached inside, looking fearful. "It's just an empty…eh?"

The boy fell absolutely silent, clearly shocked, when Sachi _did_ bring something out of the chest: A shining, broken golden arrow, with a broad and weirdly-shaped head.

"…seriously?! There are not even bows in this game!" cried Tetsuo even as the puzzled girl moved the useless object in her hands, clearly confused. "We're going to get killed for a piece a trash!"

"No one is going to get killed here, just stay together and remember your training!" shouted the swordsman while tearing his gaze away from the thing in Sachi's hands, trying to ignore why it gave him such a creepy feeling and concentrate on the murderous mobs closing on them. "Ducker, stay ready to lunge if they show an opening, we need to get to a wall so at least they're not surrounding us from all sides! Tetsuo, Sasamaru, Sachi, we will…!"

"KYA!" shouted the spear-user while letting go of the strange arrow, holding her hand in apparent pain even as it fell to the ground, shattering into polygons. "That stings!"

"Wha-what…?" mumbled the gamer while turning to look at the girl that was sucking on her finger despite there being no blood (Obviously), probably a reflex still ingrained in her from reality. "Sa-Sachi, there is no pain in this game…"

"We-well, that certainly felt as if it cut me in the…!"

"Here they are!" screamed Sasamaru as one of the goblins lunged at him, the boy barely stopping it with his weapon, eyes widening in fear. "Shi-shit, guys, I think these things' levels are way too high!"

"Dammit!" screamed Kirito while once again tearing his gaze from the spear-user and pushing a golem back with his blade, calculating the strength. "He's right! Don't use Sword Skills, if we get frozen while we're surrounded, we will take critical damage!"

 _"…he means WE will get critical damage, right? His level is way higher than ours…it's not he who is in danger, but us, unless he purposefully tries to shield us all…"_ quickly deduced Sachi with shock before once again grabbing her spear, staring at the monsters surrounding them not with fear, but with a strange determination, not noticing how the virtual air seemed to 'shimmer' just behind her. _"This is it! This is the moment Kirito was talking about! I have to step up, not for myself, but for everyone's sake…even his! I won't let him down!"_

"…guys, it was a pleasure meeting you all." whined Tetsuo when he was unable to block a hit and his HP decreased into the yellow zone.

"No! I refuse to…!"

"Here I gooooooo!"

Surprised and shocked by the unexpected scream, the desperate gamer turned around in time to see Sachi…closing her eyes, of all things and rush past them, swinging her spear forward in an overly dramatic way.

He didn't even get time to scream at her for the supreme idiocy, though, because _something_ seemed to hit all the monsters in her weapon's path a second before it came even close, sending them flying against their fellow mobs and causing critical damage to them all.

Kirito knew he was not the only one gaping in shock like an idiot when the only girl present screamed again, her eyes still closed, and swung her spear in the opposite direction.

This time, the swordsman was able to see what seemed like _claw marks_ appearing on the creatures' bodies before they were flung around like ragdolls, a few that Sachi blindly managed to hit with her spear actually dying.

Then, she spun her weapon in an omnidirectional motion, actually surprising the boy for not letting go of her weapon upon doing so.

Of course, that was nothing compared to how every monster surrounding them was brutally swept aside, a few even hitting the rest of the Black Cats and shattering into polygons upon impacting the screaming boys, who fell to the ground.

The gamer only did marginally better, sidestepping one of the flying mobs and impaling with his blade another that flew his way, the monster dying upon the action, its HP already very low in the red.

From a second to the next, their seemingly hopeless situation had turned into one where the monsters seemed to be using their scarce AI to try and oppose their _programming_ and run away from Sachi's blind mayhem, whatever invisible force she had somehow summoned destroying all of them.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but were only a few seconds in reality, the spear-user stopped, panting and shaking as she slowly opened her eyes…before blinking in shock at seeing the empty room, the last golem around shattering into polygons before her.

Slowly, the girl's mouth trembled, before she turned around with euphoric tears in her eyes, the most beaming smile of her life present on her face.

"I…I did it! I did it, Kirito, I saved us all!"

"Ye-yes, Sachi…" mumbled the frozen gamer, still trying to understand WHAT had just happened. "You did…"

At that moment, once again, the vaguely familiar feeling of the scene before him being engraved into his soul like an 'image' took place, followed by several Notifications popping up.

 **[Special Event 'Sachi's Bizarre Adventure' cleared! You gained 70 Affection Points with Heroine Saori!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Prince Charming' has been maxed! Upgraded to 'Lifelong Love'!]**

 **['The Night Kitty' was added to the gallery!]**

 **[Congratulations! You helped a Heroine overcome her own Destiny! You gained +3 in Wisdom!]**

Kirito was still trying to wrap his head around the implications behind all those lines when Sachi ran to his side, let go of her spear and wrapped her arms around his neck.

The euphoric girl joined her lips with his just as the door of the room opened again, showing three figures with their weapons ready and worried faces standing there.

"Kirito-kun, we're here!"

"Don't worry, Kii-bou, we heard the screams and…!…what?"

"Oh my." was all that Kizmel said while Asuna and Argo at her side froze, _staring_ with empty eyes as Sachi let go of the black-haired boy and squeaked upon seeing them, blushing scarlet and hiding behind him. "You truly are someone without equal, eh, Kirito?"

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement 'First Kiss'! You gained +5 in Charm!]**

For the sake of his dignity, the gamer didn't scream and curse the heavens. From the ground, the boys from the Moonlit Black Cats whimpered.

Hours later, leaving behind a very confused Keita, three very traumatized (But alive) boys, and a sad but grateful Sachi, Kirito looked at the sight of the current Front Lines with extreme relief, ready to once again deal with daily headaches and risking his life against monsters while fighting for their freedom.

Not so much at the silent stares his two fellow players were sending him, though.

"So…how was it, Kii-bou? You must have really enjoyed that first kiss…" muttered Argo with an emotionless voice.

"Ugh…Argo, for the last time, she was just reacting out of an impulse because we almost died; nothing more." grumbled the black-haired boy before looking back at them. "If you want me to be honest, though, yes, I enjoyed it. That was my first kiss and I got it from a pretty girl after thinking I was going to die or see other innocents die too, no sane teenager would NOT enjoy that unless they were screwed in the head or were characters written by a third-rate Light Novel author."

"…well, at least you're being sincere." mumbled Asuna while looking from the stupefied Argo to the exasperated gamer. "…yo-you didn't want to stay with her, though?"

"While I won't deny it would be nice, I really don't think I'm the most suited person for Sachi. Plus, you're right in that I have been away from the Front Lines' overall Clearing effort for way too long, and the Black Cats will be fine on their own from now on, whatever path they choose to take." sighed Kirito while turning around, not noticing the relieved smiles from the two girls behind her. "That's probably the last time I will ever see her for a long time too, so yeah, it's for the best. I'm…just glad to be back with you all."

"We are too, Kirito. But I have to correct you in one thing." finally spoke Kizmel with a serious tone.

"Uh? What's wrong, Kiz…?"

And that was as far as the boy went before the Dark Elf turned him around and, ignoring the frozen and open-mouthed stares of two other girls, leaned down and kissed him with such passion it stole all of his virtual breath.

Also, the gamer was keenly aware of every player in a 20 meters' radius looking on with awe/envy/shock. He could almost physically _feel_ all the work they had done for killing 'those rumors' about them crumbling away, but he was too busy enjoying the feeling of the Dark Elf's lips and tongue with his own to care much (Hey, he was still a perfectly normal hormonal teenager!).

Finally letting go of him with such a satisfied expression on her face (And a noticeable blush, which was rare) that no one would be able to say Kizmel was anything but a real woman, the virtual girl smiled openly.

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Kizmel!]**

" _That's_ how an actual kiss between lovers is supposed to be. Also, thanks for kissing back, otherwise my own first kiss would have felt incomplete." proclaimed the dark elf as if she was just talking about the weather before turning towards the frozen/blushing forms of Argo and Asuna. "You can try yourselves now, by the way."

Once again, Kirito briefly thanked the bastard that had given him his accursed powers for his Stats. Otherwise, he would have whimpered and/or ran away before the shouts and denials that ensued. As it was, he could only be grateful that things would calm down…

Less than three weeks later, though…he and the other girls (Sans Kizmel) were deadpanning towards Sachi's awkwardly smiling form, the girl all alone and waiting for them before the entrance to the next Floor Labyrinth.

"…h-hi there, Kirito, everyone! I-I know it's a bit sudden, bu-but could I join you? I'm ready to become a Front Liner!" declared the dark-haired girl while raising her spear.

"Sa-Sachi…whe-where are the others?" confusedly asked Kirito while trying to keep his voice calm (And succeeding thanks to his bullshit powers) even as he felt the tension in the air skyrocketing, mainly from the two female players at his sides (Who had, apparently unconsciously, stepped closer to his arms and all but grabbing them possessively…not that he was going to point that out loud).

"That's the weird thing…after we separated, they started getting cold feet about coming to the Front Lines, even Keita! And Tetsuo, Ducker and Sasamaru just kept saying weird things about me being possessed by an evil spirit or something just because they always ended up on the ground when we went out to the field after that!" pouted Sachi with clear confusion over her friend's change while the gamer suppressed the need to scream, having a very good idea of what had happened. "In the end, though, Keita told me that I myself should come and look for you! Said that he couldn't bear the fact that they would hold me back, so he even made me abandon the guild and threw me a Goodbye Party and everything! Isn't that sweet?"

In that exact moment, as if reality had been waiting for the spear-user to smile sweetly and say those words, a Message arrived at Kirito's menu, prompting the black-haired boy to look at it.

 _'I don't know what you did to her, but she's your problem now. Good luck, Kirito, you will need it.'_

…son of a bitch!

"Well, welcome to the team, young Sachi!" greeted Kizmel while stepping forward and patting the girl on the back, apparently deciding for everyone and making her smile awkwardly. "You look like you have true talent as a warrior now, so I'm sure you will fit right in. Also, some weird spirit does seem to be blessing you, which is a signal the Goddesses must be smiling your way."

"Ah…thanks, Kizmel-san?"

"Just Kizmel is fine." declared the Dark Elf with a small nod. "Also, Argo and Asuna are still too indecisive, so if you put the effort you may be able to take the position of First Woman from them.

"E-EH?!"

"Kizmel?!

"Kii-chan, what the hell?!"

"What? Is not my fault you're still so set on denying things when he's around despite how, back then, you were all but losing it when he was go…"

"DON'T SAY ANOTHER WORD!"

And even as the newest member of the strange group looked from one of the 'arguing' girls to the other…the only boy present could only close his eyes, take deep breaths and calmly open his Menu, the Dating Sim one, going straight to the 'Gallery' without hesitation.

He forced himself to ignore the wave of nostalgia that seeing Sugu smiling under the fireworks brought or the indecent thoughts the one of the girls in the open bath caused before stopping on the last one, titled 'The Night Kitty', and staring fixedly at it.

In the 'CG Image', Sachi was smiling on that room they had almost died in, with euphoric tears in her eyes, her spear in hand…and a tall, humanoid and female figure floating on the air behind her, all black with cat ears and two tails, wicked claws on her massive fists/paws as it stared right into his soul with her blue eyes.

Looking back up at the troubled young girl trying to 'calm down' Asuna and Argo (Trying to deflect their attention towards something she had heard about a rare Christmas Boss dropping a rare item soon or something like that) while Kizmel took everything in stride, Kirito could almost feel as if something no one could see was staring right at him.

This time, he did whimper softly, even as he muttered some suffering-filled words.

"Why can't I have a normal life?" lamented him while making plans to see if Klein and his guild would be up for going around hunting for 'Injustice' with the 'Nameless Knight' later that day.

On the real world, sitting beside Kirigaya Kazuto's bed as she read a magazine about the newly released 'AmuSphere' and waited for the nurse's daily report on her adopted brother's status, Kirigaya Suguha frowned, wondering why the boy suddenly looked as if he was about to cry…

* * *

 **[Arc 1: Dating Tutorial]-END**

* * *

 **[Next: Sidequests are Great for Flags!]**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Did Sachi just become a [CENSORED] reference?! Maybe!

Also, fun fact, it IS stated in the novels how Kirito specifically held back in 'showing off' too much when he first met the Black Cats out of reflex, which helped later with 'deceiving' them. As there was no 'Beater' fear here, well, things went wildly different in their group relationship, as 'brief' as it was, though for less deadly reasons here than in Canon XP

And with that, we finished the first 'arc' of this crazy story! Get ready for things to go even crazier for 'poor' Kirito in the next chapters, it seems that no matter what he does, he can't keep his Waifus away XD (Even his attempt to have a 'serious' moment within the chapter was crushed by the silly reality of it all) And, again, he gets proof of how his ability doesn't give a fuck about him, just to make his 'Heroines' happy…even at the cost of his sanity, most of the time :P

With that said, though, I think it's time to say goodbye again. Next time, we will be saving songs and resurrecting dragons OwO! (And more Klein, this chapter was seriously lacking on Klein)

Till next time, this is Saint, signing off!


	5. Scene 4: Sidequests are Great for Flags!

Hello again everyone, and welcome to another chapter of this hilarious SAO story!

Once again, thank you all for your support, this story is certainly growing well beyond any expectation I ever had XP Also, because someone told me it would be better to be more open with such things, I would like to say that what happened with Sachi's last chapter was a reference to the 'Stands' from the anime/manga series Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Knowledge of it is not needed to enjoy the story, but those that have it will certainly find further interactions of Sachi's weirdness funnier :P

On a similar note, how many of you are also watching the Alternative GGO anime OwO?

Now then, time to get on with the chapter. And despite how long it has been since the movie came out, I still feel the need to warm the following chapter involves characters from the SAO Movie 'Ordinal Scale', and the events described on its first part are taken directly from its pseudo-prequel in short novel format, 'Hopeful Chant' (If you wanted to know the details behind Eiji and Yuuna's past, you should read it). Hope you all enjoy!

Also, remember to continue helping fill out this fic's TvTropes page! All your help is appreciated!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **[Arc 2: Mastering Routes]**

* * *

 **Scene 4: Sidequests are Great for Flags!**

 **January 5th, 2024. 40th Floor, Aincrad. The depths of a Field Dungeon, 09:10…**

"Please…someone…anyone…save Yuna!"

Nochizawa Eiji, known as 'Nautilus' within Sword Art Online, could do nothing but cry those words in despair, even as he saw the murderous mobs surrounding his childhood friend.

There was nothing really special about the boy, except his quick mind, or at least that's what he thought himself. Sure, his grades were slightly above average, but given that he had ended up trapped in SAO that may not matter much soon. The only thing he thought was truly valuable in his life was Shigemura Yuuna, his childhood friend. The fact that she went to an all-girls high school had made him quite depressed, hence why he had been so ecstatic when she invited him to play Sword Art Online with her…even if it had ended with them in the current situation.

He had done his best, really. Slowly but surely, making sure to run 0% risks, he had trained himself to become 'Someone that could protect Yuuna'. Hell, Nautilus had even managed to become part of the Knights of Blood, even arriving to form part of the famous guild's Front Line group…as short-lived as that had been.

Because of his damn 'problem', the same one paralyzing him at that moment, that of his virtual body suddenly not moving when fear overcame him, he had endangered his fellow guild members during a Mid-Boss Fight inside the latest Floor's labyrinth, and sub-commander Diavel had told him with regret-filled but firm words that he was being demoted out of the Clearing group.

That was what had led him to hide for a couple days, out of depression, where Yuna had found him after having been looking for him (Given that he hadn't even thought of answering her messages for two days). Trying to cheer him up upon realizing he had been in the main town of Floor 40 just to watch the Front Liners use a Corridor Crystal to get directly to the Boss Room (Which honestly had been kinda pathetic, now that he thought about it), like the kind soul that she was, the girl had invited him to a restaurant and then seriously talked with him about her new resolve to try and become a Front Liner to help everyone.

Nautilus had been in the middle of deciding if he should freak out and try and convince her about how suicidal that was or be happy for how braver than him she was and offer his help…when the scared player asking for help to save his friends had burst into the small restaurant they had been in.

It had all been a blur after that. The two Fuurinkazan members that happened to be there relaxing after buying supplies asking what had happened, a small 'rescue party' being formed, Yuna being adamant to help out, he obviously following after her despite his reticence, the terrible trap in which the man's 5 friends had found themselves in on a Field Dungeon in the very fucking Front Line, Floor 40th, his quickly formulated plan upon analyzing the situation which everyone followed because he was wearing his KoB armor and that apparently inspired authority, the confidence and hope Yuna gave everyone with her 'Chant' Extra Skill, their determination to beat the Feral Warder Chief Boss within the room to unlock the cell-like mechanism that had trapped the others inside and which could only be raised by killing the aforementioned creature or operating a lever near it (And that only temporarily)…

Everything had been going great. Nautilus had actually felt proud of himself as he and the two members of Fuurinkazan, the only actual Front Liners present, kept the Boss' attention on themselves while the rest were divided between it and taking care of its minions, everything going smoothly, the confidence that he had lost since losing his spot as part of the Knights of Blood's front line-group returning…and then the creature's last HP bar hit the red zone.

Immediately, fifteen extra minions had descended on the Boss room from holes in the walls, like demented spiders, just as the Feral Warder Chief executed an unusual area of effect attack while the players were distracted, its roar shaking their very cores and, more terrifyingly, inflicting almost everyone with the Paralysis Status Effect except for Yuna, the two members of Fuurinkazan and the boy himself.

Everything having gone to hell and with fear gripping his help, Nautilus had immediately decided that, as selfish as it was, he had to try to at least get himself and Yuna out of there, given that the minions would overwhelm and kill everyone in no time despite how little HP the Boss had left…and that was, once again, when Yuna's selflessness, that which he had always admired from his childhood friend, left him speechless.

Without any hesitation, the girl with the white feathered hat _sang_. The boy didn't even have time to, as always, admire her beautiful voice when she started running, just as every single mob in the room sans the Boss turned and _started chasing_ _her_. Even more terrifying, though, was that she purposely had run around the Boss Room just to get all the minions off the paralyzed players, who had watched the brown-haired girl in shock.

The terrifying realization that the Chant Extra Skill apparently included a Skill specifically designed to draw Aggro to yourself in a massive quantity, and that probably no one sane within SAO would have ever used now that it was a Death Game, had barely hit Nautilus when he realized his closest friend, the girl he secretly held feelings for even if she had never seen him as more than a brother, was about to die. Desperate, he had called for the two members of Fuurinkazan to help him save her…who had declined, for more than obvious reasons: This was their only chance to kill the Boss and end the fight, saving everyone, something that he should also have been concentrated in doing.

Problem was, though, he was sure Yuna wouldn't survive that long. And so, disregarding and cursing them, he had rushed to try and help the girl himself…when the fear consuming him caused the 'phenomenon' the boy hated so much, his body freezing in place and not letting him move at all.

That was why he had cried out pitifully, for someone, anyone, to save her. Because no matter how much he tried, his body wouldn't move. He couldn't save Yuna.

But there was no one around that could save her, he realized. That was the horrible truth. Everyone Paralyzed, he unable to move, the monsters surrounding her and those two bastards of Fuurinkazan still fighting the Boss, even if one of them had suddenly looked at the corner of his vision as if he had received a message and now was throwing himself towards the lever that raised the bars leading into that death trap…wait, what?

Shigemura Yuuna, just Yuna within Aincrad, finally stopped running, realizing there was no point to it anymore. There was no more space, she was out of breath (Or the virtual equivalent at least) and there were almost two dozen mobs surrounding her. This was it.

For a moment, she gripped the dagger in her hand, wondering if going out fighting would made any difference, before simply resigning herself and reaching for her inventory, just marginally aware of how the monsters starting to brutally attack her, the songstress' gaze moving towards her childhood friend, who was looking at her with horror and despair. If she was going to die, at least she would give him something to remember her, that candy bag she always carried around (Because candies and song were the best way of cheering anyone in her eyes)…and what the hell was that rolling sound?

Almost as if within a dream, Yuna turned around, the girl's gaze moving over the monsters tearing into her virtual body and towards the room's blocked gate, just now aware that someone had once again used the lever to temporarily raise the bars…just in time to see something rolling inside like a cannonball, heading straight towards the room's center and 'jumping' into the air.

She barely had enough time to wonder if she had gone mad, seeing a freaking rock soaring over her and one of its sides 'opening', when her body shattered into polygons, her HP having reached 0.

In the deep darkness that followed, Shigemura Yuuna thought of many things. About her father, fear, and sadness at how he would react after her death. About her deceased mother, wondering if she would see her soon. About Eiji and how she hoped her childhood friend managed to survive the deadly world her father's student had trapped them all in.

And, finally, about how she would no longer be able to bring happiness to others with her songs. Because, even in her final moments, that would never stop defining her as a person, both her selflessness and her love for singing.

All of that crossed her mind during those scarce seconds, a part of her brain counting and wondering when it would be horribly fried by her Nerve Gear…when LIGHT illuminated the darkness surrounding her, just as her mental count reached nine.

Blinking, frozen, Yuna was blinded for a moment as her 5 senses returned, confused and between terrified and awed, wondering how it was possible for her to be back on the Boss Room, alive…

Her vision was filled with radiant silver, the armored figure before her _shining_ in her eyes despite no light in the room actually reflecting on him.

Half-kneeling before the open-mouthed girl, the Nameless Knight let out a sigh of relief, even as a shining and otherworldly 'stone' (More like a shining blue crystal within a metallic silver outline) shattered in his hand, its unique and miraculous power having been spent.

"That was a close one, Song Enchanter." spoke the one that was revered by the players on lower floors as a borderline legend (Or an amusing lunatic, depending on who you asked), his voice sounding like a heroic and melodious tune in Yuna's ears. "Reckless and noble too, something I can relate to, but I would advise against ever doing it again. Now, don't worry…"

As he spoke, the girl finally became aware that, while several of the Mobs surrounding her had vanished for some reason (Probably the impressive black blade on the armored one's hand), most of them were still around, and whatever shock/lapse her 'death' and the newcomer's arrival had caused was over, the tormentor-class minions at both of them with murderous intent.

"YUNA!" screamed Nautilus upon recovering from the awe and happiness that the miraculous arrival had caused him, once again fearing for his friend's life…

An impossible flash of light cut through the mobs, over 7 of them dying in a single spinning motion. Unable to believe what they were seeing, almost everyone in the room stared at the **two** shining blades on the Nameless Knight's hands as he stood over Yuna like a hero of legend, seeming like an uncomfortable wall between the awed songstress and the suddenly very non-menacing-looking mobs.

"…none of them will touch you now that I'm here." finished the armored one while brandishing both blades and cutting through the rushing mobs again and again, as if they were nothing.

Nautilus became vaguely aware that he was able to move again, his utter awe, relief, and happiness having overcome his fear, when he remembered that even the seemingly unbeatable warrior wouldn't be able to win if the mobs kept respawning, which made him turn around to help again with the Boss…

…just in time to see the Feral Warder Chief shatter into polygons, a tall figure with a katana which the two members of Fuurinkazan were staring at with relief turning around, standing proudly over what seemed like a suspiciously round rock.

Klein the Rock-rider, one of the most bizarrely famous players of SAO, grinned his way casually giving him a thumbs-up.

"Yoh, kid! Don't worry…everything is under control." smiled the samurai wannabe while jumping off his 'Fuurin-mobile', the object that made him and his guild so stupidly known, and patted his pats on the back, even as everyone in the room suddenly got a healthy amount of Experience, Col, and items. "Good job in messaging me before rushing in, guys! Talk about luck that we decided to sit today's Boss Fight out before we were low on supplies, though, or that could have been messy…oh, and thanks for lending a hand, Nameless Knight!"

"It was my pleasure, brave samurai. A life was saved because I was here today." the sound of the voice made the awed member of the Knights of Blood turn around again, seeing the 'living legend' walking towards them while carrying Yuna bridal style, the songstress staring up at his helmet in utter awe. "You are…Nautilus from the KoB, right? Are you okay?"

"A-ah, yes, sir! I am!" quickly replied the boy as he saw the Nameless Knight help his childhood friend stand on her own again, quickly rushing to her side in worry. "Yuna, are you okay?! Did something…?"

"I…am fine." mumbled the girl while giving him a small glance, though never fully taking her eyes off the armored one. "I…I was dead, bu-but then…"

"The Divine Stone of Returning Soul was a unique item dropped by a special Boss last Christmas. Allowed to save someone's life if it was used within 10 seconds of them 'dying'." explained the Nameless Knight while materializing several Paralysis Antidotes in his arms. "It was…entrusted to me, so I'm glad it was useful in preserving your life, Yuna-san. Aincrad would be a darker place of its only musician was gone."

"Yo-you know of me?" muttered Yuna while still seeming dazed, even as her childhood friend accepted the antidotes from the mysterious player.

"I know of many things within the castle, my lady. Now, please, use these to help those people, I must get going. Take good care of each other, you two, and make sure to value this second chance, Yuna-san." continued the Nameless Knight before turning around, sheathing his swords on his back and starting to walk away from the awed players. "Thanks for letting me tag along, Klein-san. May our paths cross again in another heroic endeavor."

"You got that right, Nameless! And maybe you can tell me how you did that thing with two swords then!" shouted Klein from where he and his guildmates were helping the paralyzed players with potions. "Still…you sure you don't want to ride back with us? We go enough room!"

"…maybe another time." was all that the armored one answered before reaching the room's entrance, raising a Teleport Crystal and, muttering his destination low enough to not be heard, vanished from sight.

"…woah. I-I thought the guy was just a weirdo who ran around saying strange things, but he's an actual hero…" whispered Nautilus with a smile and awe, turning to look towards his childhood friend. "He really saved your life when all seemed lost, Yuna! …Yuna?"

"Nameless Knight…" spoke the girl while still staring at where the mysterious player had vanished, a bright blush and a giddy smile on her face. "He was…amazing…"

"Ye-yeah…?" mumbled the boy with an odd sense of confusion and despair mixed as he watched his closest friend make a face she had never done since he knew her (And they knew each other since kindergarten).

"Eh, it's okay, pal." spoke an understanding voice before Klein put a hand on Nautilus shoulder, a strangely solemn look on his face. "Nameless is a cool and okay guy, too busy and heroic to ever stay for any woman, you only need to worry about overcoming things on her end, bro."

"…thanks?"

"Now, be grateful it wasn't Kirito who did that. I mean, he's a nice guy, but…he's also such a fucking chick magnet…even NPCs, I tell you! In a game where there are very few girls! And I don't even have a girlfriend yet! Why is life so unfair?!"

"The-there, Klein-san, calm down…please…"

Staring from the suddenly reversed roles of their 'brave guild leader' being comforted about the 'unfairness of life' by the younger boy to the starry-eyed songstress still fantasizing about her literal knight in shining armor, the two unimportant members of Fuurinkazan sighed and started the task of freeing the awkward-looking random players from the paralysis effect.

Little more than an hour later…the Nameless Knight entered into the room he had just rented in the newly liberated Floor 41, walked straight to a small desk near a window and manually took off his helmet, sighing deeply while letting himself fall on the chair before the small table.

Idly, Kirito stared at the helmet he had just abandoned in the desk before his gaze moved with annoyance towards the Notifications that had popped up earlier and that he had yet to dismiss.

 **[Yuuna Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Shigemura Yuuna!]**

 **[Your current status with Yuuna has changed to 'The Hero she Deserves'!]**

"…I barely even talked to her, dammit! Feelings…feelings don't work like that, you stupid power! Life ISN'T a game people are characters of! And…and I'm screaming to a fucking Notification screen…" trailed off the black-haired boy while letting his face hit the surface of the desk beside his helmet. "Goddammit…"

"You know, you should probably consider closing doors if you plan on keeping up this 'secret identity' of yours, Kii-bou." came a familiar voice from behind the gamer, who tiredly looked up to see Argo standing on the doorway, a neutral expression on her face. "Also, I feel almost offended you not only weren't present for the Boss Fight but also that you didn't rush to see if we were okay the moment it was over…"

"Argo, we never disband the Party, remember? Even if I didn't trust in your abilities as much as I do, I knew all of you were fine at all times." reminded her Kirito while pointing towards the corner of their vision, where both could see the names and current HP of their Party members. "Besides, you know I would have never done such a thing without a very good reason."

"Given you're wearing that stupid piece of trash again, let me doubt it." continued the whiskered girl while walking to his side and glaring at the helmet. "Kii-bou, that may have been a fancy armor back in the 10th Floor, but up here you may as well be going around naked with how under-leveled that thing is, never mind how it actually makes it harder for you to move. Screw your dumb 'secret identity', you shouldn't be putting yourself in danger just for…!"

"I used the Divine Stone of Returning Soul." the black-haired boy's cut through the Info Broker's words like a knife through hot butter, making her look at him in shock. "…and Dual Blades too."

"…what the hell happened?!"

"Klein's guild was sitting this fight out because of low supplies, so I went with him to help him get some good deals, thinking I would make it back in time. Of course, Klein being…Klein, made things last way longer than they should have, and by the time we got to the meeting point the Boss Raid had already left." recounted the gamer while looking from the attentive Argo to the helmet on his desk. "He offered to help me get to the Boss Room on foot if needed as an apology, I was actually considering it when he got a Message and…things got complicated. I pretended to go to the Boss Room anyway by myself but then 'transformed' into Nameless Knight when I lost sight of him and caught up when he was about to board his crazy rock-vehicle…thankfully."

That said that, Kirito proceeded to explain everything that had happened in the Field Dungeon to the whiskered girl, who nodded silently despite her grave expression.

Despite how valuable that Unique Item had been, and how it could have been used to save one of THEIR lives, she knew the boy had done the right thing in using it as he had.

After all, even if she was the type to disregard saving another human life out of principle and just in favor of how 'valuable' they were (Which she wasn't), then Yuna the songstress, also known as the Song Enchanter or simply 'Utachan', was no doubt someone more than worth saving. While she was no 'Asuna the Flash', 'Kizmel the Dark Elf' or 'Sachi the Possessed' (Or 'Argo the Rat' too, she supposed), she was certainly famous enough in the lower floors that her death in such a horrible situation would have had very negative consequences on the morale of Aincrad's population. Something they really couldn't afford the higher they went in that deadly world.

Still, beyond how he was, Argo could tell there was something more that had driven the gamer's reaction to his current point. Something that he wasn't telling her…

"…please…tell me what's wrong, Kirito." pleaded the whiskered girl while resting her face against the back of his head, freezing him dead in his tracks at the use of his name instead of her usual nickname.

For a moment, he looked back towards her, his eyes unable to not flicker towards the words above her head.

 **[Izawa Shiori: 'The Rat']**

 **[Relationship Status: Trusted Partners (?)]**

 **[Affection Points: 99/100]**

In another life, maybe, he would have been confused at the question mark that now rested beside the girl's relationship status since months ago, or at the reason why her Affection seemingly refused to go up that last point despite their many interactions…but, for good or bad, such a luxury was not allowed for him here. Kirito knew exactly the reason, it had literally been slammed in his face with Notifications and made itself more than obvious with his many interactions with everyone, as much as it terrified and, to a part of him, thrilled him to know it.

"…have you ever been scared of yourself, Argo? What if…what if you had the power to grasp something you really wanted without a care in the world? To disregard what others thought or felt if you were selfish enough and just…take it?"

Because, at the end of the day, that was what terrified Kirigaya Kazuto, the true scale of what his 'power' could do. That was the single reason why he hadn't just jumped at the chance for so long and started taking advantage of it when being surrounded by several cute and beautiful girls, who he _knew_ , in one way or another, liked him.

He had been raised like a normal kid, then learned a truth that put his world upside down and closed himself from everyone when he was 10, becoming a borderline social pariah who only related with others through games or the Internet by his own choice. In his eyes, there was no way anyone could ever simply 'like' him, let alone the crazy and surrealist situation he found himself in with all his female friends, just because of himself. It was all his bizarre 'power', or so he told himself.

Was it really right for him to simply take advantage of it, then? Despite knowing he could be very well just taking advantage of girls that probably would have never looked his direction as more than friends or less if things had been different?

That he was just…?

"Idiot."

The 'chop' on the top of his head didn't really hurt, because of the nature of the virtual world, but it still sent the black-haired boy reeling forward and let his face slam against his abandoned helmet. Cursing, he turned his gaze to shout at his 'friend' for the action, but the words died in his throat when saw the sincere look in her eyes, a smile he rarely ever saw in Argo's face (Like when Kizmel had come back to them) being sent his way.

"Argo…"

"Shh, Kii-bou, it's fine…I get it, I think. This is because of us, right? Because of this…crazy, situation, that sometimes I don't know if it's getting any better or worse thanks to Kii-chan's…'honesty', let's say." sighed the Info Broker before stepping forward again and putting her hands on his shoulders, their faces inches apart. "And…maybe I could do with being a bit more honest with myself to begin with. Hell, Aa-chan could do so too, it's a bit embarrassing that Sacchin can accept it so easily whenever she thinks you're out of earshot, crazy spirits possessing her aside."

 _"Well…at least she hasn't stopped time or summoned snails…yet."_ idly thought the boy with a hint of amusement, which helped him relax from what he was currently feeling.

"The point is, if this was some stupid cliché anime, I think we would probably be fighting over how you can't make up your mind and just say something to us, but…that wouldn't be fair in this case, would it? When we're lying to ourselves, when you clearly were even worse at social interaction than me when we first met, with this whole craziness of risking our lives fighting monsters every day on top of us…you're a teenager. Hell, you can't be older than, what 16?"

"Actually, I turned 15 earlier this month."

"…and now allow me a moment to get mad at you for not telling us while remembering that none of us has really even thought about our birthdays since we got here…okay, done. The point is, even without taking the whole Death Game thing into account, this whole deal with all of us is crazy enough, and I'm not expecting you to, like, do something as dumb as asking any of us to marry you or something like that when we aren't even old enough to drink. We have all of our lives once we get out of this mess to figure things out, but…I think that, for now, none of us should really complain about this personal mess we have all gotten ourselves in. Especially when you yourself, surprisingly, aren't at fault."

"…but am I really not?" asked Kirito out loud, not knowing if he was doing so at the girl or at whatever had given him those stupid powers.

"Are you kidding? With how honest and upfront you always are? If anything, the ones at fault of something are me and Asuna for being so childish and making things worse, so…let me be the first to rectify that." taking a deep breath, Argo…no, Izawa Shiori closed her eyes and counted to 5, opening them and only idly realizing that a part of her still was 'girly' enough to be disappointed this wasn't a more romantic situation. "I like you, Kii-bou. A lot. And, no matter how things turn out in the end…I don't want to regret feeling like this. Question is…do you?"

For a moment, the boy simply stared at him, unable to keep the surprise off his face despite having intellectually _known_ that, the mere fact of hearing it from her lips making it that much more real.

Then, he closed his own eyes, considered the whiskered girl's words…and realized how right she was.

So, what if maybe this power was really the only reason she was feeling like that? The only reason all of them were feeling like that? It didn't make how they felt any less real, or at least it didn't in his eyes, and he would be the first to accept he had little to no idea about actual romance or love. He was just a teenager, after all.

But he was also the one that had 'chosen' to go down this path. When he actively kept going forward while accepting them in his life, he had already subconsciously chosen to go along with it. Lying to himself with all these doubts wasn't helping him, or anyone else.

And so, Kirito came to a decision. One that would change his life and that of countless other people, even if he didn't know it yet.

Even if this ended up screwing him up seriously in the end or turning his life into a complete mess when they got out of that damned Death Game, he was going to see things through to the end. He was going to be selfish and stop denying himself, to accept all the consequences that came his way and be responsible for his actions.

And the best way to start going down that path probably was…

"…Argo?" asked the boy while opening his eyes, his voice and gaze suddenly seeming deeper than ever, making the girl's heart race.

"…ye-yes, Kii-bou?" gulped the Info Broker, suddenly aware of how close they are

"If you regret anything of what you just said, please say it now, because otherwise I'm just going to kiss you."

Declaring those words, the gamer grabbed the girl's cheeks and, slowly, started pulling their faces closer, given her frozen brain time to realize she was being given the option to back off.

Now then, while she didn't regret anything she had said, maybe she had been a bit too hast…?

The choice was taken off her hands when someone grabbed the back of her head and, without hesitation, pushed her face against Kirito's, connecting their lips together.

She had like half a second to be shocked/outraged at the action before her mind seemed to melt and her tongue willingly fought against the boy's before quickly surrendering it, months of self-denial exploding outwards from within like a wave of relief and pleasure.

 **[You gained 41 Affection Points with Heroine Shiori!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Trusted Partners' has been maxed! Upgraded to 'Willing Lover'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement 'Until the Last Consequences'! Hollow Fragment Scenario has been Unlocked!]**

"See? Isn't it better when you're just honest with yourself?" rhetorically asked Kizmel while removing her hand from the back of Argo's head, though she didn't seem to mind in the slightest when both teenagers ignored her and just kept making out, the Dark Elf just turning around and walking out of the room with a satisfied smile. "Like I always say, you humans just need to be more open about what you want. Don't you think so, you two?"

Neither Sachi nor Asuna, half-'hidden' and peeking over the edge of the door to stare at the scene with jealous/embarrassed looks, answered, though the dark-skinned girl could feel how whatever weird guardian spirit the spear-user possessed nodded for her. It seemed Asuna would still need a small push unless she wanted to be 'left behind'.

Then again, Kizmel wasn't really worried. After all, if they could end a war between her race and the forest elves that had lasted for generations, having a young human warrior accept how obviously she loved the bravest hero she had ever known should be pretty easy.

That day, several unexpected changes happened to Aincrad.

First, the player known as Nautilus would resign from the Knights of Blood…and join the Fuurinkazan guild together with his childhood friend, Yuna, which would make the bizarrely famous guild even more so.

Second, Argo the Rat would start shamelessly clinging and flirting with the infamous 'Ladies Man Swordsman' every time she could, much to the hate of other male players and his apparently nonchalant acceptance.

And finally, in the depths of Sword Art Online's core…a small, continuous 'Error' would appear within the Cardinal System, over the subroutines that controlled players' development, centered about a specific group it had been watching for quite some time now, according to protocol.

Not even Kayaba Akihiko would notice the impossibility…but the small, silent and curious program in the shape of a black-haired little girl in a white dress would, slowly staring at the impossible glitch with her empty eyes.

On the edge between Reality and Unreality, [LIFE] would cheer on while [DEATH] grumbled in annoyance…

* * *

 **February 23rd, 2024. 35th Floor, Aincrad. Forest of Wandering, 19:30…**

Sighing as he stared at the trees surrounding him, Kirito adjusted his ragged cloak while reminding himself he wasn't really lost, just that the damn field dungeon surrounding him had that effect, and that, unlike months ago, his headache had nothing to do with romantic problems.

"If it's not one thing, it's another. Why did I agree to come down here looking for Upgrade materials again?"

Of course, it was just a rhetoric question. After all, everyone needed to keep their equipment on top condition and as good as possible every time they progressed, and with the Front Lines already in Floor 55 it wasn't something they could joke about.

In fact, he was seriously considering finding a Blacksmith to get a new sword soon, one as good, or better, than his current Elucidator, given his previous main one was seriously lacking in comparison to the black blade he had gotten from the 50th Floor Boss. And if he was planning to Max Dual Blades someday, whether he kept it as 'the Nameless Knight secret skill' or actually used it as himself…

The sound of a message arriving at his Menu interrupted his thoughts just as he also considered it was more than time to either Upgrade his stupid armor or drop his 'secret identity' altogether, giving it a look to find it was from…Klein.

 _'Hey, Kirito! You should have joined us on our fishing trip! Nautilus caught a really big one, then got dragged into the water by it. We got into a whole underwater fight, cool stuff. Yuna-chan spent lots of time laughing at us after healing us, though, that was mean of her…slamming the Fuurin-mobile against it while the thing was trying to swallow Nautilus WAS a valid strategy, let me tell you! Also, he ended up giving it the last hit from inside! C'mon, spend some time away from your girls and hang out with your pal'._

Letting out something between a chuckle and a sigh, the gamer idly realized how he no longer really reacted to hearing someone referring to his party members as 'his girls'. Because, for better or for worse, it was kind of true…even if Asuna was still in denial, though. She had taken up the Cooking Skill not long ago as a way to vent her frustration, so he at least hoped she calmed down a bit, as trying to directly bring the subject made her a bit volatile…even if he COULD see the jealous looks she sent Argo's way every time she exercised some of her newfound openness to 'show him some affection', as she so happily called it.

But getting away from the dangerous thoughts of the whiskered girl hanging from his back and kissing him out of nowhere, he had mixed feelings about Klein's request. On the one hand, he had nothing against hanging out with the samurai-wannabe and his guild, he was more than a bit…'reticent' to spending too much time with Yuna.

He may have accepted his power and everything that came with it, and the songstress may have been both beautiful and one of the kindest and most selfless souls he had ever met (And the daughter of the man who had taught Kayaba Akihito, not that he needed to know that), but her adoration and borderline obsession with the 'Nameless Knight' was a bit unnerving, and a part of him was honestly scared of how she would react if she (Easily thanks to his power now acknowledging as a 'Heroine') found out he was the mysterious player.

Besides, that Nautilus guy seemed to have it badly for her, even if she clearly didn't feel the same way, and he was so nice and harmless that it would honestly make him feel bad if…

"PINAAAAAA!"

"…oh, well, look at that, a convenient interruption to my troubled thoughts in the form of a young girl's screaming voice, in the middle of the night in one of the most labyrinthic field dungeons of Aincrad." deadpanned Kirito before starting to run in the voice's direction, already unsheathing his sword. "Seriously, power, couldn't you be a bit less obvious? Or cliché?!"

Meanwhile, not far from there…things hadn't been going well for the young player known as Silica.

First, everyone in the Party she had been part of decided to listen to that mean Rosalia woman just because she had a pretty face and acted all flirty, then she stormed off being annoyed for being treated like the group's 'pet' and got lost…and now, her closest friend, the feathery dragon she had named Pina, had sacrificed herself to protect her from the monsters before her.

Barely stopping to consider running or anything else, the pigtailed girl screamed as she saw red and charged towards the three ape-like mobs, swinging her dagger wildly.

In hindsight, there was really no surprise within her when, after miraculously killing the first monster, another one delivered a powerful uppercut from her blind spot that sent her small body flying upwards, her HP bar going all the way down to the last dregs of the Yellow zone.

But…at least she had gone down fighting and not crying on the ground, right?

 _"Sorry…Pina…"_ mentally apologized Silica while her body started falling again. _"I couldn't even…avenge you. I'm really just a useless…"_

The sound of exploding polygons reached the young girl's ears just as her fall was ending, shocking her almost as much as the firm arms that caught her petite body instead of the unforgiving virtual dirt of the forest.

Looking up, the former Beast Tamer found herself staring at the deepest and more intense pair of black eyes she had ever seen, a slightly effeminate face staring down at her with the most charming smile she had witnessed in her young life, the vanishing virtual remains of the Drunken Apes that had almost killed her seeming to frame him in an otherworldly and heroic light.

"Are you okay, little one?" asked Kirito with a relieved tone and smile, happy to having made it in time to save the young girl.

"…meep." was all that came out of Silica's mouth even as her face burned red, unable to stare away from her savior as if in a trance.

"…uh?" asked the boy in utter confusion, before the familiar sound and sight of new Notifications greeted him.

 **[Keiko Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Ayano Keiko!]**

 **[Your current status with Keiko has changed to 'Unreachable Dream'!]**

Despite his newfound resolve during the last months, the gamer couldn't help but feel a small headache at the sight.

Just how many more girls would his power keep trying to hook him up with before it was satisfied?!

A bit over two hours (And an unpleasant short meeting with his new friend's former Party members) later, Kirito sat on the room of the Inn he had rented for the night with a thoughtful look, wondering if he should still consider being annoyed at the random events the 'plot' of his Dating Sim-like life kept throwing at him, like going on a Quest to resurrect Silica's pet dragon was, even as he waited for an answer from Argo and the rest (Having sent a message explaining why he wasn't coming back till later tomorrow).

Just as his musings were taking a very strange turn involving undead dragons, the answer he had been waiting for arrived.

 _'Got it, Kii-bou, and good luck. Take care, though, I heard there had been some annoying troubles down in the middle Floors lately. Also, please, don't bring back the little girl home, okay?'_

"…well, at least her humor sense is still intact." mumbled the gamer before receiving a small extra message, making him blink.

 _'PS: Also, Sachi once again got some super rare drops._ Several _S-Class Ingredients this. Last month it was those boots, before that the spear, and before that…well, you know, just saying I'm starting to see a pattern here.'_

Taking a deep breath, the swordsman did his best to NOT think about the implications of that, which he himself had been suspecting for a while. Accepting his situation was one thing, conserving his dwindling sanity was another.

Also…while he was sure Argo was just joking with the end of the first message, a part of him couldn't help but groan, repeatedly telling himself that wasn't going to happen. After all, he had kept Yuna away for months without anything actively forcing him to interact with her, so surely doing so with a 13 years old girl that probably had less idea than he about actual romance wouldn't be much more difficult, right?

Meanwhile, in the room just across the hallway…

 _"I wonder what our kids would look like?"_ thought Silica with a silly smile as she hugged her bed's pillow, before quickly squealing and burying her face in it with embarrassment. _"Kya, wha-what am I thinking? He's a Front Liner, w-we just met, the-there is no way anything like that could ever happen…plu-plus, there are all those ru-rumors about him…"_

"Silica-chan?" came the familiar voice of the boy filling her thoughts, making the young girl shot to her feet and look towards the door. "Are you okay?"

"Ye-yes, Kirito-san! One moment, please!" replied the dagger-user before quickly equipping some more proper sleeping clothes and rushing to open the door, giving a blushing smile to the blinking gamer. "I-is something wrong?"

"Ehm…well…" muttered Kirito while wondering how to explain the sudden influx of Affection Points he had been notified about had worried him without sounding like he was crazy, even as his gaze flickered towards the screen hovering over the young girl's head.

 **[Ayano Keiko: 'Dragonless Tamer']**

 **[Relationship Status: Unreachable Dream]**

 **[Affection Points: 20/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: Keiko, known as Silica within Aincrad, was one of the several unfortunate children that got to play SAO without caring too much about the supposed recommended age, having been just 12 when it started. After spending quite some time in the pseudo-orphanage of the Town of Beginnings, she set out on her own and made a name for herself as a Mid Liner, becoming surprisingly popular at being one of the few 'Monster Tamers' in the game. However, she feels bitter and sad that almost everyone sees her as just a 'mascot character' and has quite an inferiority complex because of it]**

"Ye-yes?"

"No-nothing…uhm, anyway, would you like going over what we're going to do tomorrow to revive Pina?" asked the black-haired boy with a kind smile, receiving a beaming one in answer.

"Su-sure! I would love to, Kirito-san!"

The gamer couldn't help but chuckle and ruff her hair at the polite and cheerful answer, not caring how much it made the girl blush. She truly reminded him of Sugu when they were little.

At that moment, in the real world, Kirigaya Suguha, having just come out of the bath, sneezed and looked around in confusion before looking down at her pajamas in annoyance, deciding she would probably stop wearing a bra under them if her chest kept growing like that.

She also wondered why she felt like glomping Kazuto, but quickly shrugged off the feeling as something normal.

* * *

"Thi-this is quite the beautiful Floor, i-isn't it, Kirito-san?"

"…yeah, it is. Then again, it IS Floria, so…"

Trailing off at the end, Kirito suppressed his ever-present need to sigh as he stared at the main town of the Floor nicknamed as the 'Flower Garden' for more than obvious reasons. Also, something he was sure he would have never paid much attention to if his life had been less crazy, it was considered the Number 1 spot for couples to have romantic dates in Aincrad. As evidenced by the few ones that could be seen around, holding hands and having a good time in the beautiful and sunny day.

Also, probably because Silica was holding his hand too (Because she felt scared from last night, in her own words), a lot of them were staring their way, pointing at his trademark ragged cloak and whispering to each other in recognition, more than one of the females around looking at him with distrustful/outraged looks.

And that was another new batch of rumors about him that was going to spread out of control, no doubt. At this point, he really didn't care for that (Not to mention that denying them would have been a bit hypocritical unless they were over-exaggerated), but he was worried the young girl at his side would be affected by them in some way…

 _"E-everyone is looking at us and whispering. D-do they think we're a couple? The-they do, don't they?!"_ were the dagger-user's frantic thoughts as she pressed herself against Kirito's arm to hide her blushing face from the staring crowds, unknowingly adding fuel to the fire.

"Ehm, Silica?"

"Ye-yes, Kirito-san?!"

"Just…wanted to know if you were getting used to that new equipment I got you." smoothly lied the boy upon seeing the nerve-wrecked look on her red face, deciding it would probably help if he _didn't_ bring up their current situation.

"A-ah, yeah, it's great! I can't thank you enough for it!" quickly answered Silica while letting go of him, rushing some feet ahead and twirling around, her now red clothes moving along with her as she gripped her new dagger tightly. "I know it won't completely make up for my lack of level for this Floor, but it's still a great help!"

"No big deal; parting with such equipment isn't a problem for me, and I wouldn't forgive myself if I let something happen to you after bringing you here and promising to help." sincerely answered the gamer while giving her another smile, blinking upon seeing her blushing up a storm and looking away. _"I…uhm…okay, maybe I'm being a bit too open with her, but my Stats aren't_ that _high…right?"_

 **[Dating Stats]**

 **Charm: 53**

 **Wisdom: 67**

 **Aura: ?**

Giving the numbers a critical look, idly hearing Silica's hurried talk about how she would do her best to not be a burden, Kirito realized he had no real base to compare them with, and that _maybe_ it was about time he started worrying about how he could never properly see his 'Aura' Stat, given that at this point he was pretty sure the question mark didn't mean it was permanently at '0' like he originally…

A terrified scream broke the black-haired boy out of his musings, making him curse for having been so distracted that he took his eyes off his young companion after having promised to protect her, his hand flying to the black blade on his back as his gaze shot to the front…

…and stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing Silica flailing about under the tentacle-like vines of a plant-type mob, a Garish Gerbera to be precise. Also, for some reason, the carnivore flower had decided to hold her upside down, showing that Kayaba or whoever had been in charge of programming the finest details of gravity for SAO had made it interact in a very realistic way with skirts.

"Aaaaah! Ki-Kirito-san, do-don't look, ple…!"

The young girl was unable to even finish her embarrassed shout, for the monster holding her up shattered into polygons and let her fall down at that moment, her following squeak being cut short as she, once again, fell into the arms of the gamer, who was looking at her with worry.

"Sorry about that, Silica. I shouldn't have gotten distracted; it's my fault for not warning you a lot of monsters in this area spawn like 'traps'…"

"N-no, Kirito-san, I should have been more careful…but…uhm…" suddenly fidgeting and looking extremely meek, though not making any move to get off his arms, Silica looked away from his (In her eyes) dazzling face and muttered a small question. "…did you see?"

Kirito hadn't even started to open his mouth before the world came to a halt and lost all color around him, making him sigh and look away from the girl time-stopped in his arms to stare towards the 3 Choices before him.

 **A-[Uh? What do you mean?]**

 **B-[I…I couldn't help it, sorry]**

 **C-[Yeah, what of it? This is no time to waste on silly things]**

"And the award for the most awkward Choice Group goes to…" started to mutter the boy before shaking his head, remembering what he had promised himself before looking from the dagger-user in his arms to the three options before him. "Okay, so…I can either act like the dense character from a cliché Harem series, apologizing and accept the consequences or sound as if it doesn't affect me in the slightest with a small jerkish tone."

Taking a moment to consider things, the gamer once again detaching himself from his view of the world like a normal person and instead became the one that could analyze how to properly progress through a 'game' like this with the best outcome.

Silica had an inferiority complex, and the events of yesterday probably were still weighing heavily on her mind (Especially seeing the idiots that were part of her previous Party), his presence probably being the only thing keeping that off her mind, but, even if they got to resurrect her pet without issues, it would probably only come back again once he went back to the Front Lines.

Not really wanting to 'romance' the young girl that clearly didn't belong in the madness that surrounded his life aside, that didn't mean he didn't want to help her as best as he could. And, as he had learned the hard way with Sugu, his power was stupidly useful for doing such things in record time, so…

"I…I couldn't help it, sorry." embarrassedly muttered Kirito while looking away from her with a small blush, the world having gone back to normal and his body taken over by the mysterious 'Higher Force' once he chose Option B. "He-here, I will let you down…"

"A-ah, no…i-it wasn't your fault, as I said, it was mine…" mumbled the dagger-user with an even brighter blush, though there was a tiny smile in her face as she looked away, her thoughts going at frantic speed. _"Di-did it really fluster him that much?! Do-does that mean he doesn't see me as just a silly little girl?!"_

 **[You gained 20 Affection Points with Heroine Keiko!]**

…well, that had worked better than expected. Still, just to be on the safe side, the black-haired boy decided to walk before his companion and slaughter any other tentacle-using plant monsters, to prevent any other similar situation.

He really wondered why the fuck such attack method had been programmed in them, or why they seemed to try to ignore him and reach for Silica every time, but he just chalked it up to the retarded 'plot' in which his life had become.

Not much time later, the gamer and the young girl were walking back towards Floria, the latter holding his hand happily with one hand while the other raised the beautiful visage of the Pneuma Flower before her eyes, the vibrant smile on her face making Kirito unable to not smile too…

And, of course, that's when the fucking 'plot' of his life struck again, when Rosalia, the woman that had acted oddly passive-aggressive against Silica yesterday, acting like some cheap villain of the week from a third-rate anime and threatening them with her orange guild, Titan's Hand, to give up the flower and any valuable equipment they had.

It seemed that the fact that the Pneuma Flower would be nearly useless to them and that they would be hard-pressed to find anyone that had a need of it, much less to sell it properly (Which the black-haired boy uselessly tried to kindly explain) didn't really matter for them.

"…okay, fuck it. I tried being civil, but that clearly didn't work." groaned the gamer with clear annoyance before putting a hand on the worried-looking Silica's shoulder and pushing her behind him, walking forward while unsheathing his blade, much to the criminal guild's surprise. "I have actually heard of you, a bunch of petty criminals that doesn't seem to realize or take seriously our situation in this world, so I'm going to give you one chance to surrender before this turn into a hopelessly one-sided massacre."

"Hoh? Big words, for a nobody wearing that piece of crap." cockily remarked Rosalia while pointing towards his ragged cloak. "Who even are you, anyway, boy?"

"I'm Kirito, from the Front Lines, you idiots." revealed Kirito without missing a beat, making the entire orange guild before them to freeze. "And you can either drop your weapons and never bother me or Silica again or you will learn the hard way why this game is so unfair."

"N-no way…it can't be!"

"Him?! But…that cloak…oh God, it's obvious…!"

"It's the Ladies Man Swordsman!"

"I-I thought that silly little girl had somehow seduced you, bu-but it was the other way the whole time…?" mumbled the red-haired woman while taking a step back, the black-haired boy honestly not knowing how to feel about the mix of shock and disgust in the criminal's face. "We-well, I will be making a favor to every woman in this damn game by getting rid of you! C'mon boys, we outnumber him 7 to 1! Front Liner or not, he can't take us on!"

"Ye-yeah! Let's get him!"

"It's not fair a single stupid kid can get all the sexiest women!"

"Life isn't fair, so let's make it fairer by force!"

"Uoooohhh!"

"…I feel extremely conflicted and baffled right now." deadpanned the gamer upon hearing his foes' 'battlecries', sighing as he walked towards them nonchalantly. "Oh, as for the bit about not being able to take you on…you really haven't played many MMORPGs, have you?"

It didn't take long for Rosalia to realize with horror what he was talking about when even all of her followers' unleashing Sword Skills on him endlessly barely damaged or fazed Kirito.

The difference in level, Stats and Skills was just too massive. There was no way they would ever beat him at all, or even make him move if he didn't want to.

Unless…

"…tha-that's such bullshit…" muttered one of the random members of Titan's Hand when they grew tired of hacking away at the swordsman with no visible result.

"No, it's what happens when you try to take on someone out of your league in a _videogame_. Hell, I'm sure you wouldn't even be able to hurt _Yuna_ , of all people, before she just sang a song to get a better Regen than the damage you deal." deadpanned the gamer while looking at them with annoyance, idly gripping the spear the one closest to him was holding and, unceremoniously, ripping it from his hands and tossing it at the small river under the bridge they had been attacking him on. "Now, about that surrender you were about to…?"

"KYAH!"

"Drop your weapon and take off your equipment!" suddenly shouted Rosalia's angry voice, Kirito and her minions turning around in shock to see the woman holding a wide-eyed Silica while pointing her weapon to the young girl's neck. "Or your latest little girlfriend will find out firsthand if you actually die for real in this game!"

"SILICA!" shouted Kirito while paling, only to then feel his inexistent virtual blood boil, barely thinking that the criminal must have taken advantage of their collective distraction to run around the bridge, past the small river and then caught the dagger-user from behind. "Let her go…now."

"I-I'm sorry, Kirito-san…" cried the young girl while tears formed in her eyes, making something within the boy feel as if it was about to snap. "Thi-this is my fault…"

"You bet it is, stupid little girl! Honestly, why did someone as useless as you have to complicate matters so much?!" snarled Rosalia while pressing her spear closer to Silica's neck, making her whimper as an angry red line appeared on it. "Now throw your weapon away, cheap playboy, or she…!"

"Let…GO!" screamed the young girl while slamming her dagger against the woman's thigh, making her shout in rage and let go, the dagger-user starting to run forward…

And the criminal slammed her spear on her back, making her stumble and fall down face first, her HP plummeting into the red zone.

The black-haired boy saw red.

For the first time since…ever, really, he found himself _wishing_ to harm another human being.

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been Activated!]**

He had barely registered both the thought and the Notification when the realization of what was about to happen hit him.

For a moment, Kirito found himself dearly wishing Klein and his rock would come out of nowhere like usual…

 **[A Special Event has been Triggered!]**

…only for the sound of thunder and dark clouds appeared out of nowhere crushed that hope, even as everyone (Even the scared and slowly standing Silica) froze and looked upwards.

The war cry of a _horse_ resonated through everyone's souls before lighting stroke down just behind Rosalia, a shadow the size of a car materializing menacingly.

Suddenly, the swordsman felt as if he was 11-years-old again, screaming in frustration and throwing away his controller as he glared towards his PC's central screen, where, despite his oversized weapon and high-level Electricity-resistant armor, the same form that now towered over the shaking redhead criminal had trounced his character.

A massive unicorn with the mane of a lion. That was probably the simplest way of describing the majestic blue and white creature, until you realized every part of its body that wasn't the mane was covered in scales instead of fur, and the deadly-looking electricity that seemed to dance all around it, making its reptilian eyes somehow look even more majestic and terrifying.

Even before the 3 Health Bars appeared over the randomly spawned Boss, the traumatized gamer within Kirigaya Kazuto already knew what he would find there.

 _'Kirin the Elder Dragon'._

"…cu-cute horsey?" mumbled Rosalia while taking a step back.

The Field Boss' answer was to neigh angrily and shot forward at the speed of lighting, his horn being surrounded by electricity as the creature effortlessly impaled the screaming criminal and jumped over the bridge and the paralyzed players without problem, turning around and 'roaring' again as the woman he had speared shattered into polygons.

Kirito blinked, his shock at the sight being eclipsed by how the remaining members of Titan's Hand had been faster than Silica in hiding behind him with horror-filled eyes.

"I-it killed the boss! We're doomed!"

"I don't want to die a virgin! Protect us, Ladies Man Swordsman!"

"Mommy!"

 _"The-these guys…"_ mentally groaned the black-haired boy even as he felt the young girl who had unknowingly started this whole mess tightly grip his arm, shaking but unwilling to leave his side as she raised her dagger with a trembling hand.

It really touched the gamer, though sadly he knew it was a moot point. If the thing before them was anything like the Kirin he remembered for his early gaming days, then even if he whipped out Dual Blades, secret be damned, he would stand no chance against it unless he had a full Front Liner raid behind him, and if the horse-like dragon still could use its 'Lightning Chain' attack then they would still suffer heavy losses…

At that point, though, Kirito realized a single thing. Even as it seemed to prepare its next charge, the Boss' gaze was firmly set on…Silica.

His most important deduction about his power came back to the forefront of his mind with full force. That, no matter what, his 'power', especially its most drastic and over-the-top effects, cared nothing for him…but were fully dedicated to protecting his 'Heroines'.

So, if this thing had been created to save the young girl from Rosalia, even though now it was acting like any SAO Boss, it must mean…

"Silica…do you trust me?"

"Eh?" muttered the surprised dagger-user before looking up towards the gamer and, without hesitation, nodding. "Ye-yes, Kirito-san…with my life."

"Then…take out Pina's 'heart', quick."

To her credit, Silica just took a second before registering the boy's words, quickly opening her menu and materializing the first item in her list, just as the Kirin started to charge again…and stopped just an inch before them, its horn shooting sparks an inch away from the sweating gamer's Elucidator as the elder dragon turned its head towards the shaking Silica, who was holding the small feather that was all that remained from her loyal pet and friend.

Gulping, Kirito took the girl's hand and raised it higher, putting the feather between them and the Field Boss, ignoring the member of Titan's Hand behind them that had started crying and calling for his mother.

For a tense second, the Kirin just seemed to stare at the feather, then at teary-eyed dagger-user and finally to the Pneuma Flower in her other hand. Then, with a deafening sound, it roared to the heaven, chains of lighting shooting from its horn and hitting the trees and the water around them, making most of the present whimper in fright.

Finally…the horse-like dragon lowered its sparkling horn, letting the tip touch Pina's Heart and filling the small feather with an electric hue. Once the action was done, the creature jumped over the group and, unceremoniously, started to gallop away, electricity marking its path as it moved to the farthest corners of Floor 47.

Several seconds of silence followed while no one said anything.

"…we're alive." muttered one of the members of Titan's Hand, as if unable to believe it.

"It…seems like it." gulped Kirito while he felt Silica collapse in his arms, shaking as she sobbed/laughed in utter relief.

After that, the orange guild seemed very eager to get thrown in the safety of prison…

* * *

"I…thank you again for everything, Kirito-san." honestly spoke the young girl while giving him a warm smile, even as the just-resurrected creature in her head happily squeaked in agreement. "I don't think I can ever repay you for this…"

"It's okay Silica, it has been…quite the adventure for me too." chuckled the black-haired boy while looking the small Feathery Dragon.

Who now had a small horn on her head, even as she cuddled against her owner and friend.

As if sensing his gaze, the small dragon suddenly looked at him with her deep red eyes, cooing happily before flying to him and starting to 'hug' his head, making him stumble and the dagger-user to chuckle happily.

"Heh, it seems Pina really likes you, Kirito-san! She must know you helped save her life!"

"Ye-yeah, I guess…" muttered Kirito while prying the dragon off his head and handing her back to Silica, his eyes never leaving the small horn on her head. "So, uhm…if anything strange happens, feel free to message me, okay? I will come right away if there is any trouble…"

Even as he said those words, the black-haired boy couldn't help but look towards the Notifications he hadn't bothered in dismissing since a while ago.

 **[Special Event 'The Dragon of Legend' cleared! You gained 50 Affection Points with Heroine Keiko!]**

 **['Pina Reborn' was added to the gallery!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have helped a Heroine find Determination! You gained +4 in Aura!]**

"Don't worry! I will make sure to not bother you with unnecessary things, Kirito-san!" proudly declared the Beast Tamer while raising a closed fist, though then she quickly looked to the side with a small blush. "That said…I look forward to seeing you again, whenever you have time…"

"I will try and make some time to check on you, I promise." declared the gamer before sighing and giving her one last smile. "Well…see you later, Silica."

"Se-see you later, Kirito-san…" mumbled Silica while waving at the boy, a sad smile on her face as she saw him heading towards the Floor's Teleport Gate. "…he's nothing like those stupid rumors say. He's brave and caring, and an amazing person…ah, I wish I could…follow him…"

"Kyuu?"

"Because we can't, Pina. We barely hold our own on the Middle Floors with a Party. I don't want to follow him to the Front Lines only to be a burden…" softly spoke the young girl as she and her dragon headed out of Floria, admiring the endless flowers that covered the fields of the 47th Floor. "I wish there was a way to change that, but…"

As if the world was out to get her that day, a Garish Gerbera spawning not far from her interrupted her words, the plant monster roaring menacingly and waving its tentacles as it got ready to lash out. Scowling, the Beast Tamer readied her dagger, unwilling to be caught off guard again…

And was nearly blinded when an absurdly powerful lightning bolt shot from her side, vaporizing the mob before it could even react.

Blinking, Silica looked at the experience and Items she had just gained, before slowly turning her head to the side, seeing Pina floating there innocently.

Electricity was still sparkling all around her horn, though.

"…Pina? Did you just do that?"

"Kyuuu!"

"Oh…I see."

Suddenly, a very unnerving smile appeared on the innocent girl's face. For some reason, every single plant monster in the Floor felt very afraid, and soon the sounds of electricity and unhinged laughter could be heard.

Revenge had never been sweeter.

Meanwhile, having just arrived back to the Front Lines, Kirito suppressed a sudden shiver and looked around confused, before shrugging and moving on, his hands already moving to write a Message. He needed to tell someone from the Knights of Blood that there was a murderous Horse-Dragon loose on Floor 47 so that they could warm the people and keep them out of…

"Oof!" groaned someone upon colliding with the surprised boy, before stumbling several steps back, letting go of the bag she was carrying and, unceremoniously, falling down spectacularly, ending up on the ground and having crushed whatever she had brought. "…owww…why does this always happen…?"

"Uhm…are you okay?" asked the gamer while looking down at the beautiful girl, idly wondering how someone could, apparently, trip in such a way multiple times.

The stranger was, without a doubt, beautiful, with bright grayish-white hair that made Kirito wonder if it was dyed or natural and eyes of a silver-brown color, not to mention that she was quite well-endowed despite her young appearance, almost at the same level as Kizmel.

Inwardly, the boy wondered if the fact that he had noticed such a thing so fast was a sign that he was becoming a pervert when the girl finally stood up and looked with depression to the crushed food she had been carrying.

"Oh no…they're going to kill me for that…" whispered her before looking up towards the gamer with a shaky smile. "A-and yeah, don't worry, I'm used to it, it wasn't your…fault…uh?"

"…is there something on my face?" asked Kirito with a small bit of nervousness, noticing how the girl's face had started blushing as she took a step back and pointed at him with a shaky finger.

"Tha-that cloak…those looks…yo-you're Kirito! The Ladies Man Swordsman!"

"…ye-yes…that's me." grumbled the black-haired boy while taking a deep breath, reminding himself that he couldn't really hunt down whoever had spread that accursed nickname without being a bit of a hypocrite. "If you want to run away, feel free to do so…"

"E-eh?! N-no, s-sorry if I gave you that impression! It's just, uhm, I look up to your group! You're all very close friends and do your best to clear the game!" quickly clarified the white-haired girl before offering him a shaky hand. "I-I'm Lux, by the way! It's an honor to meet you!"

"No need to be so formal, Lux-san. I'm just a normal person, just like you." awkwardly answered the gamer while reciprocating the handshake, though he inwardly wondered why he felt something 'off' about the clumsy girl…

 **[Hiyori Route has been Unlocked!** **You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Kashiwazaka Hiyori!]**

 **[Your current status with Hiyori has changed to 'Ray of Hope in the Darkness'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have Unlocked 8 Routes! You gained the achievement 'Harem Creator'!]**

…well, now THAT was quite an ominous Relationship Status…and wait, what the hell was that achievement?!

"I-it has been a ple-pleasure, Kirito-sama!" quickly finished Lux before turning around and hurrying away, seeming a bit happier but still quite nervous. "I ne-need to get going though, s-so have a good day!"

"Ah…you too?" confusedly answered Kirito while staring at the girl until she was gone from his view, shrugging as he dismissed the Notifications. "Well, that was quite random and unnecessary, especially if she was in such a hurry to get away from me. Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if I never saw…her…again…"

Trailing off as his nonchalant tone was replaced with a shocked boy, the black-haired boy could do nothing but stare dumbfounded at the 'Heroine Info' he had just brought up about the girl from his Menu, as he hadn't bothered to pay much attention to the one above her head before she ran away.

Suddenly, it made a terrifying amount of sense.

 **[Kashiwazaka Hiyori: 'Caged Soul']**

 **[Relationship Status: Ray of Hope in the Darkness]**

 **[Affection Points: 0/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: Hiyori, named Lux within Sword Art Online, was a normal and average girl trying to survive the Death Game, until the fateful day she decided to join a Party trying to clear a particularly hard dungeon on the 32nd Floor. Quickly getting separated from them due to many traps, the girl was about to die overwhelmed before being 'saved' by members of the infamous Laughing Coffin. Instead of being murdered, though, PoH, leader of the killer guild himself, let her choose between joining them as a spy to get supplies and information (Being a non-orange player) or dying. She looks up to the Front Liners, especially your group, because they represent everything she hopes for and fears she will never be or have]**

The gamer hadn't even finished reading the whole summary and he was already running, turning around the corner and shouting for the girl's name.

"LUX!" screamed Kirito while ignoring the looks people gave him, looking left and right but finding no sign of the girl he now knew needed urgent help. "…fuck. Okay then…this may get complicated…"

As if the obligatory talk telling the girls how everything had gone in the lower Floors wasn't going to be complicated enough already…

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Getting Ready for the Endgame

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Yup, going on sidequests certainly raises a lot of Flags, eh?

You know, it's kind of funny, but while writing this, I couldn't help but think that, even before I started throwing every single SAO spin-off and sidestory content in his face, Kirito's life REALLY does seem like the plot of some weird fantasy/action Eroge :P

Kashiwazaka Hiyori/Lux is an actual SAO character, btw, from the manga spin-off 'SAO Girls Ops' (Featuring also Sugu, Liz, and Silica sharing the main characters spot with her). Just in case you were wondering.

Also, Monster Hunter World has in no way sponsored this chapter or the mental damage caused to Silica-chan. Nor my continuous rage-quits against the thrice-dammed Kirin before I started worshipping the thing like a God and swore to never fight it again after getting its full armor-set done :3

Oh, and Yuna survived! And she and Nautilus joined Fuurinkazan…yep, Eiji being part of Fuurinkazan and best buddies with Klein, now there is a massive piece of Multiversal irony. But well, at least this one won't become a piece of shit excuse of a human being that totally didn't deserve getting away scott free with everything he did, right OwO? Expect to see more them in following chapters!

The most important part of the chapter, though, was of course Argo's acceptance and Kirito's new resolution of 'Going all in aiming for the Best Ending' even if he 'knows' things will probably end up badly for him…oh, poor innocent Kirito, he thinks his CURRENT situation is already as crazy as things can get XD

Well then, I think that's all for now! Next time, confronting killers while saving girls, Asuna cooks until getting triggered and a blacksmith embarks on an epic quest :P

Until next time, this is Saint, signing off!


	6. Scene 5: Preparing for the Endgame

Once again, hello to you all, my dear readers! I thank you all again for the great support you're showing and for how much you're loving this story :3!

That said, though, I have something of an important announcement to make, so please, even if it looks long, read the following lines:

After a lot of thinking and recent events in my life, I have decided I need to make a decision so that my stories don't get messier/forsaken, and start taking my duty as a writer in a less random way, especially after realizing this story is going to be a long-term one, which has let me to the following decisions for my SAO Stories:

First, I'm officially dropping Requiem Universus. While the story has obviously been 'abandoned' for like a year now, I think I should make it official so that it's more settled in my mind and for the sake of all my other works (Not to mention that I started complicating the plot a bit too much outside my original goals with it). I will leave it up for adoption in case someone wishes to finish it, something I would lend a bit of help with. Also, the Universe itself may still be 'considered' for references in some future works that won't be specified now.

Second, I'm putting OverGamer in indefinite Hiatus. While it's a fun concept and I enjoyed writing it, it seems a bit pointless when this story does everything I intended to do with it but better. I may pick it up again when one of my current projects is done, though, which takes us to the good news of the day!

I'm retaking Lusus Naturae, after like 9 months of it being 'On Hiatus' :) I really want to finish that one, because it was enjoyable and the very bizarre concept of it really was an experience to make. Plus, it's almost 3/4done anyway XP I'm also obviously going to finish 'One Punch-Gamer: Chains of Fate' (Because I will be dammed if I don't finish my biggest project!), so here is what's going to happen: Once I get this story up to the end of the Aincrad Arc and the start of the Hollow Fragment one (Which I calculate to be 2 chapters after this one), I will start rotating between updating this, Lusus and OPG, so that all my stories get progress.

I thank you all for reading this and hope you can understand my decisions, everyone. Now, as a reward, have the longest chapter of this crazy story so far!

Oh, and remember to help filling its TvTropes page :D!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 5: Preparing for the Endgame**

 **April 23rd, 2024. 19th Floor, Aincrad. Hill of the Cross, 22:15…**

"It's really too bad, you know? You three are just a veeeery unlucky bunch, nothing more…"

Whimpering, the girl known as Lux within Sword Art Online wondered how things had ended so horribly wrong for her, even as she stared at the three highest-ranked members of Laughing Coffin…while having her sword just over the neck of one of the 3 poor players Paralyzed on the ground, even as PoH continued his grandiloquent speech.

Honestly, she wasn't really sure about why or how the two men and one young woman had ended up in their current situation. She knew their names (Caynz, Yolko, and Schmitt), being the only one from the current group that had bothered memorizing them, but beyond that, she had no idea why they were in that place so late at night or why someone had 'contracted' Laughing Coffin to 'remove them'.

What she knew was that she _shouldn't_ be there. At all. She was supposed to be just a pseudo-slave, a delivery girl, someone that the killer guild used to get supplies and information because of her status as a 'normal' player, unlike them with their Orange cursors marking them forever as criminals for having killed others.

But then that tragic day 2 months ago happened, one that had made her both immensely happy and very miserable: She had been in one of her usual errands on the Front Lines, getting a new supply of Items and lamenting the terrible luck that had landed her in that horrible situation…when she had bumped into someone and, like she was prone to do, she had tripped, though in an especially spectacular way that ended with her crushing the things that she had been charged with buying that day.

Of course, that was when she realized that she had crashed on freaking _Kirito_ , the infamous 'Ladies Man Swordsman' of all people.

Lux wasn't like most, though, and that was, ironically, because of the terrible situation she was in. Because of it, she had developed a deep admiration for the Front Liners who risked their lives to clear the game and free everyone, together with a bitter shame because she was, even if forced, aiding one of the main forces hindering their progress in a horrible way. And that's why she had looked beyond the rumors as she gathered the information her 'bosses' needed about the Front Liners and learned the non-influenced truth about the most 'famous' Front Liner.

The one called Kirito wasn't the cunning playboy a lot of people seemed to think he was, but a caring and determined fighter that worried and would always do his best for the members of his curious group. While there was no denying the 'weird' status of their relationship (Especially since Argo the Rat had started to be as shameless as Kizmel the Dark Elf about showing her affection for him), it seemed very clearly more of something they had agreed freely than the swordsman forcing them to do anything.

That's why she had been so excited when she met him, so much she had almost forgotten in how much trouble she was until she returned to Laughing Coffin's 'hideout'.

Besides being berated and shouted at so much she feared for her life, something she had sadly gotten used to, she had also attracted attention to herself. Especially because her clumsiness wasn't something that had come up just once or twice. To make matters worse, the mood among the killer guild got noticeably worse in the following months, as many of their operations were frustrated by the 'living legend' of Aincrad, the (Arguably insane) mysterious player known only as the 'Nameless Knight'.

Because of this, Lux found herself being sent in more and harder missions than ever, partly because they needed it and partly because she was an outlet to their annoyance and/or frustrations. Soon, her tasks had diversified into hunting for needed drops and even buying/upgrading spare weapons for some of the higher-ranked members.

And it all had led up to that day, when, a few hours ago, PoH himself had just casually told her to follow him, Johnny Black and Red-Eyed Xaxa and do as she was told. Automatically, she had obeyed without asking any questions, more than used now to keep herself alive by not antagonizing the murderers to any degree, even if she did felt quite uneasy at the strange request…and that unease had turned into horror when the leader of Laughing Coffin had casually explained what they had been 'hired' to do and sent the details to all three of them with a Message. Apparently, Lux herself wouldn't really be 'killing' anyone, just keeping an extra pair of eyes on them in case anything went wrong and looking 'threatening' (Hence why she was wearing the full body hood/poncho combo so used by Laughing Coffin members) so as not to risk her status as a 'green' member of LC…but the girl was certain that there was a very real chance of their twisted leader ordering her to do so anyway, either for his amusement or because she had finally become 'expendable' after so many months of things going wrong.

Which was the reason why, even as PoH finished his rant and 'kindly' explained to the poor three players why they were about to die, Lux was doing her best to not start shaking, praying to whatever Gods could hear her for a miracle.

"So…which one do we begin with, boss?" eagerly asked Johnny while walking past the desperate girl and looming ominously over the paralyzed victims.

"Well, how about we let the newbie here decide?" asked the most infamous player in Aincrad while giving Lux one of his terrifying smiles, making her whimper. "How about it, eh? Which one of them do you think should…?"

"How about none?"

It came from nowhere, so fast and unexpected the white-haired girl didn't even see it coming. From a moment to the next, a shining Sword Skill slammed Johnny Black away and an armored silver blur threw her to the ground. She didn't even have time to try and get up before an armored boot pinner her to the ground, the difference in STR showing when she was unable to get free no matter how much she struggled.

Lux didn't need to hear Xaxa's curses as he helped his 'pal' to his feet or PoH's amused/frustrated whistle to know who had just appeared, but she still turned her head to the side and slightly up to stare at him.

The Nameless Knight stood there, his blade raised dramatically forward and keeping her immobile with one of his legs, while clearly protecting the three paralyzed players.

"Well, well, look at that, if it isn't our resident knight in shining armor." sneered the so-called 'Prince of Hell' while sending a vicious look towards Aincrad's most mysterious player. "You know, I usually have a lot of patience for amusing people, but you have been meddling in our affairs in a very annoying way for way too long for that, clown."

"Insult me as much as you want, PoH. It won't change the fact that you're the lunatic and I'm the one stopping you, just ask anyone that you haven't brainwashed with your smooth talk." retorted the armored one while staring down at the infamous trio. "Though I got to say, I never expected you to bring a 'green' member of your guild to something like this. It feels like a stupidly unnecessary risk, especially coming from you."

"What can I say? Lux there was just getting too annoying and try-hard to my likings, so I wanted to see if she could surpass herself." shrugged PoH while subtly making a gesture with his free hand, Xaxa and Johnny tensing and slowly starting to move as soon as they noticed it.

"That sounds like a terrible excu…wait, Lux?" interrupted himself the Nameless Knight, blinking under his armor and looking down at the player he had pinned down, a familiar bit of white-silver hair peeking out from under the hood as she tried to stare up at him.

"Ehm…hi?" was all that the confused girl could say…just as the red-eyed player shot forward with a 'Linear' Skill while his fellow masked killer threw several poised knives towards the strange hero. "WATCH OUT!"

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

All but jumping upwards, Lux took advantage of the armored player having released the pressure on her back to make him fall away from the two unexpected attacks, putting herself in the line of fire as consequence.

Everyone was shocked when it was the girl who lost over half of her health and got Paralyzed, her body rolling off Xaxa's estoc and crashing against the dirt not far from the other 3 horrified players.

Releasing something akin to an angry growl, the Nameless Knight shot back to his feet and slashed towards the red-eyed killer's blade, striking it in the exact point to critically damage its Durability, the weapon shattering like glass. Then, without even looking in his direction, he threw his blade like a rock towards Johnny, making him scream and roll to unsuccessfully dodge while the armored player's fist ignited with the light of a Martial Arts' Skill, painfully slamming against Xaxa's face.

All of it in less than 4 seconds. PoH blinked, shocked, even as the 'living legend' ran towards him and equipped another blade on his hand, the leader of Laughing Coffin barely stopped it with his deadly Matte Chopper.

"Woah…that was hardcore, all right."

"Today…you will be stopped, PoH!" snarled the Nameless Knight as he upped the pressure on his sword.

"Oh, spare me the bullshit, 'Knight-kun'. That may have been fancy, but those two will be back on their feet in no time, and everyone in Aincrad knows you have been wearing that pretty thing since Floor 10 with no visible change…you're more than dead for having gotten involved in this."

"I didn't even want to…it's just that those two idiots made their 'Murder within the Area' thing so overcomplicated and suspicious that I just HAD to get caught in the middle of it." growled the mysterious player while sending a quick glance at the three Paralyzed players that had once been guild members. "And all for what? To discover the truth behind their leader's murder? I mean, yeah, it was a noble goal, but did they seriously need to make it so damn showy that I just would be tempted to play detective and uncover the truth?!"

"Are you…really asking me or just venting your frustration?" honestly questioned PoH while he saw his subordinates starting to stand again.

"A bit of both. Also, you're all doomed." remarked the armored one while kicking his enemy away and backing off, sword raised. "Because an entire group of Front Liners will be here any moment now to stop you unless you run away."

"Oh, c'mon! That's such a stupid bluff not event that Lux bitch would have fallen for it." laughed Xaxa while assuming a cautious position beside his guild leader, grinning through his slightly cracked skull mask. "Of course, after that little stunt she pulled, it's not as if she's going to ever fall for any bluff again…"

"Because we're going to kill her after we're done with you, if it wasn't obvious." remarked Johnny while casually waving the sword that had been thrown his way earlier in his left hand, another poisoned knife ready on his right.

The tension filling the small area near the 'tomb' seemed to skyrocket and, just as the Nameless Knight seemed about to try and pull off something desperate…an angel started to sing.

At least, that's what everyone thought for a brief instant when a beautiful voice suddenly filled the side of the clearing where the armored one stood close to the fallen players with an awe-inspiring and hope-giving song.

Under the helmet, Kirito's eyes widened, both recognizing the gorgeous voice and seeing how the edge of his HUD was filled with Stat Boosts and Positive Effects. Immediately, Caynz, Yolko, Schmitt, and Lux gasped, the Paralysis having vanished even as the last one looked in shock as her HP started going up again, a Regen Effect now affecting her.

Slowly turning around, the boy disguising himself as the so-called Nameless Knight stared as a beautiful brown-haired girl with a white hat emerged from the trees, playing her lute as she kept singing, her Extra Skill finishing its effect while she flashed him a radiant smile.

"Yuna…?"

"We have come to your help, Knight-sama!"

And that was when a familiar giant rock came flying just beside the smiling songstress, rolling over Johnny Black while his partners turned in shock, seeing Aincrad's most bizarre vehicle crash against a tree and roll up its side, opening mid-way and 'throwing' something out of it like a bullet screaming.

The blindfolded (For some reason) form of Nautilus crashed against Xaxa, neither his shield nor sword actually connecting with the red-eyed killer, but ending up in such a tangle of limbs on the ground the latter couldn't even finish taking out the spare estoc he had been about to bring out.

"AGH! Get him…off…!"

"I-I got him, Klein-san! Now!"

"Fu-fuck, that costumed bastard wasn't bluffi…!"

Johnny Black was unable to finish his curse, for in that moment gravity finished asserting itself and the Fuurin-mobile crashed on top of him, severely damaging his HP and crushing him against the ground, only to roll off the poison-user just as a new figure jumped out of it, the red blur screaming at the top of his lungs while slashing down with his katana towards PoH's wide-eyed form.

If the guild whose name meant _'Wind, Woods, Fire and Mountain'_ had a Theme Song, it would probably start playing right now.

Laughing Coffin's leader was barely able to react in time and use his Mate Chopper to awkwardly parry Klein's attack, the bandana-wearing guild leader glaring at the killer.

"Fuurinkazan! Stop these bastards!"

"O-on it!" called one of the katana-user's friends as they all stumbled out of their 'vehicle', only the year+ of having ridden on it letting them to quickly recover and subdue the weakly moving Johnny, even as the rest rushed to help the traumatized/shocked players that had almost been killed.

 _"…I know that Skill is broken, but holy crap I'm glad it always calls them to help when it's not doing some unreal bullshit."_ thought Kirito while finally recovering from the surprise, casting a worried glance towards the slowly standing Lux while feeling relieved at the same time.

Say what you will about Klein's attitude and luck with women, but there was no denying the guy was a scarily effective guild leader and an active Front Liner.

"Knight-sama!" shouted Yuna while throwing something towards the 'Nameless Knight', making him blink and catch the sword with his free hand, looking at her admiring yet determined gaze. "Quick, help Klein-san!"

The armored boy didn't even bother asking any questions before simply spinning around and rushing forward, briefly thanking the songstress while his gaze quickly focused on the fight taking place in the middle of the 'hill'.

Finally having fully recovered from the shock caused by the absurdity of it all, PoH was fighting back with all the fierce viciousness he was infamous for, the deadliness of his weapon's Def-Ignoring properties making themselves obvious at how easily he was depleting Klein's HP despite the samurai-wannabe not giving him an inch of terrain, showing why he was both a Front Liner and his guild's leader.

His look of grim concentration, however, changed into a feral grin upon hearing the sound of metallic armor moving quickly over the terrain, changing the flow of the battle by unleashing a 'Tsujikaze' Katana Skill out of nowhere, surprising his enemy and making him stumble back out of the way of the shining Japanese sword.

Just as the hooded man thought Klein had fucked-up and let himself open for his counterattack, though…

"SWITCH!" shouted the bandana-wearing man just as the glorious form of the Nameless Knight shot past him, his two blades shining with the telltale light of a Skill.

PoH's eyes widened.

"Dammi…!"

The leader of Laughing Coffin wasn't even allowed to finish his shout, for the first strike of 'Double Circular' severed the hand with which he was holding his butcher knife, the second one reducing his HP to the red and sending him to the ground back-first.

Two gleaming swords were put before his face a second later, a metallic boot slightly crushing his ribcage.

"Game over, PoH." coldly declared the armor-wearing player while glaring at the most infamous man in Aincrad from behind his helmet, even as Klein walked to his side, katana at the ready and also scowling down. "No more _'Showtime'_ for you."

"…screw you." bitterly answered PoH while struggling to move, unable to believe what had happened.

"Heh…that's what I call a job well done." chuckled Klein while giving his friends a thumbs-up. "Don't you think so, Knight?"

"Do-does that mean we got them all?" asked Nautilus while finally standing up, looking around blindly (As he was still wearing that blindfold) while Xaxa took the chance to stand and quickly operate his menu.

"Ei…Nautilus, behind you!" shouted Yuna upon seeing his childhood friend in danger.

"Where?!" shouted the youngest male member of Fuurinkazan while spinning around, brutally slamming his shield against the red-eyed player and making him fall to the ground again, his HP in the red. "Where is he?!"

"Ehm, Nautilus…you can take the blindfold off now." awkwardly commented Klein while scratching his hair, the surprised boy obeying and then looking around in slight disbelief.

"Huh…we _did_ get them all…"

"Why…why was he even blindfolded in the first place?" couldn't help but ask the disguised Kirito.

"Oh well, you know that problem he has where he suddenly freezes up for unknown reasons when he's scared? Well, we were trying to train him to overcome that!" proudly declared the bandana-wearing man while puffing out his chest. "I remember I saw someone doing some training blindfolded in a kung-fu movie sometime back, so I thought it would be the best. I mean, if he can't see whatever could scare him, and is too busy screaming to think about it, he doesn't have time to FEEL scared. Genius, right?!"

The 'Nameless Knight' honestly felt he shouldn't voice his opinion about that out loud, opting instead for giving the awkward-looking boy (Who honestly looked better in the samurai-like garb that was 'standard' for Fuurinkazan members than he had done in the KoB's armor, in his opinion) a measuring look.

"We-well…I didn't freeze-up, that's for sure…" mumbled Nautilus while giving out a weak laugh. "And we actually pulled this madness off!"

"Now that I think about it…how are you all here?" asked the armored boy while looking at the gathered guild. "I mean, I'm thankful for the help, that's for sure, but I honestly didn't think anyone would be this close…"

"We were actually going back from some training exercises when Asuna-san contacted us and told us there would be trouble here, Knight-sama!" happily proclaimed Yuna while all but materializing beside the disguised Kirito, almost making him jump at how fast the songstress had moved. "She and her friends must be catching the guy who was actually behind this mess, Grimlock I believe, right now…but we certainly weren't expecting to see you here! Otherwise, we would have come faster!"

"N-no, your help was more than appreciated and on point, Yuna-san." coughed the Nameless Knight while trying to get back 'in-character', ignoring the shocked gasps of the three victims upon hearing that their former leader's husband had been behind everything. "In fact, your song probably saved those four there and…ah! Lux!"

Blinking, the songstress saw her hero rush away from her and towards the unknown girl (As Asuna hadn't mentioned her when saying who would probably be there) wearing a similar poncho to the stopped LC members, helping her fully to her feet and asking if she was okay.

For some reason, she felt her grip on her lute tightening dangerously. Klein gulped and hummed innocently while slowly walking away

"I-I'm fine, Mister Knight…really…" mumbled Lux while looking awkwardly away from the single player that could probably be called the antithesis of the guild she had been forced to be part of, wondering what was going on.

"I'm glad. You don't know how much." spoke the disguised Kirito with honest relief, shocking the white-haired girl (And everyone else there) when he kindly patted her head, his armored hands somehow feeling incredibly kind and soft for her as she felt her face heating up. "I can't even imagine the hell you went through these last months…but it's over now. You're safe."

 **[You gained 50 Affection Points with Heroine Hiyori!]**

That single Notification popping up froze the armored boy on the spot, making his eyes widen behind the helmet.

He could still gain Affection while being 'disguised' with his Nameless Knight 'Title'?! No…wait, that probably meant that, somehow, Lux had realized he was…

"Ehm…Yuna, are you okay?" nervously asked Nautilus upon seeing how silent his childhood friend was being as she STARED at the scene.

"Yes, Nautilus, I'm perfectly fi…WATCH OUT!" suddenly shouted the brown-haired girl while pushing her friend back, out of the way of Xaxa's estoc, which ended up piercing right through her arm. "Agh!"

"Dammit! What's with you bastards pushing each other out of the way all the time?!" screamed the red-eyed player while dragging Yuna towards him, glaring at everyone as they turned towards him and pointed their weapons his way. "Not a single step further, fuckers, or Miss Idol here is going to shatter into nothing!"

As if to punctuate his words, the last unrestrained member of Laughing Coffin pressed his weapon further down the girl's arm, making her wince and panic slightly as she saw the damage clashing against her (Slowly vanishing) Regen status.

"Yuna!"

"Let her go!"

"Don't touch Yuna-chan!"

"Red-eyed Xaxa…if you know what's good for you, you will let her go." coldly spoke the Nameless Knight while taking a menacing step towards them.

"Yeah, how about no?" growled Xaxa while quickly taking something from his pocket, the bright crystal making everyone's eyes widen. "Sorry boss, Johnny, but let's be honest, you would do the same in my situation…and to be fair, you probably _shouldn't_ have let me be the one to carry this. Corridor, Open!"

At the masked player's words, the Corridor Crystal shattered as a shining portal manifested between the group and the hostage/kidnapper duo. Then, without fanfare, Xaxa pushed Yuna inside before rushing himself, feeling himself losing several years of his life when one of the armored player's blades swept the air just an inch behind him before the Corridor Portal closed.

Shocked silence filled the clearing for several seconds before Johnny Black burst out laughing, apparently amused as hell, even as PoH let out a resigned sigh.

"The worst part is that I can't even blame him. I _would_ have done the same, indeed."

"NO!" screamed Nautilus while falling to his knees and slamming his weapons down. "I…I failed her…I couldn't protect her…I couldn't…!"

"Get up and stop lamenting, Nautilus." all but ordered the disguised Kirito while walking past him, shocking the boy. "Any second you waste there feeling sorry is a second we aren't saving her."

"Bu-but…they could be anywhere in…"

"No, they will be in their hideout." declared the Nameless Knight while stopping beside the grim-faced looks. "And you know where it is, right?"

"…yes, I do."

"Lux, you bitch! I will kill you!" snarled Johnny while pointlessly trying to get free from the three Fuurinkazan members holding him down, all of them with serious looks on their faces.

"…okay Knight, I'm guessing you have a plan?" asked Klein with extreme seriousness while looking at the two. "One of my guild members and friends has been kidnapped and I would like to save her as soon as possible."

"Yes. You all throw these bastards into prison and call all the Front Liners you can. Tell them the situation and to get ready as soon as possible on this Floor's main town. I will take Lux here to Asuna…san's group and tell them where to go." explained the armored boy before holding the girl's hand. "We're going to save her."

"Heh…Yuna-chan can take care of herself, but yeah, I'm sure she will appreciate the help." grinned the guild leader before turning towards his friends. "Okay, you hear the man guys, let's take out the trash and go help our favorite singer!"

"YEAH!"

"…yes." softly nodded Nautilus while giving the rest a determined look. "I…no, we will help Yuna!"

Giving them all a last nod, the 'Nameless Knight' dashed away even as two of the guild members starting messaging people they knew, others to ask Caynz, Yolko and Schmitt if they could get back to town safely and the rest to drag the struggling Johnny and the oddly silent PoH away.

During all of it, the one known as 'Prince of Hell' just kept staring towards where the mysterious 'Hero' had disappeared.

 _"You think this is your win, knight in shining armor? Keep dreaming, because one day, when you least expect it, the time will come for…OUCH!"_ shouted the leader of Laughing Coffin out loud, his mental monologue interrupted when Klein slammed his katana's hilt on his face. "What the hell?!"

"Eh…I just don't like your face." unapologetically shrugged the leader of Fuurinkazan.

Meanwhile, rushing through the forest, a myriad of different thoughts rushed through the mind of the girl known as Lux before she settled for one while taking a deep breath.

"Kirito-sama…could you please slow down a bit?"

"…so you DID know." sighed the armored boy before turning and, in a surprising display of speed with his fingers, changing his whole equipment in a couple motions, the imposing vision of the 'Nameless Knight' being replaced by the ragged cloak and overall unimpressive looks of Kirito, the 'Ladies Man Swordsman'. "Is that costume really that unconvincing in certain situations?"

"N-no…it's just that…I recognized the warmth of your hand when you patted my head." shyly accepted the girl while looking own, her face a blushing mess but her words still coming out strong. "That kindness when I fell over that time and you helped me up…let's say it just stuck with me…"

 **[Congratulations! The Skill 'Head-patting' has been Unlocked!]**

 **[Head-patting] (Passive Skill): Grants 'a kind touch' when patting one of your Heroines' heads. Every pat will be filled with the love and kindness found only in Shojo manga.**

"I…see." accepted Kirito while trying to not facepalm at his newest stupidly specific and 'useless' (For anything not romantic-related) Skill.

At least now he knew his 'secret' wasn't at risk of being discovered by Yuna as long as he didn't screw-up. And talking about the songstress, he should better find the others quick if he wanted to prevent that lunatic of Xaxa from doing something drastic…

"I-I know what you're going to ask! And it's fine, re-really!" quickly assured Lux before he could even open his mouth once his gaze settled back on her. "I…may have not done it on purpose, but I have been indirectly aiding Laughing Coffin in all their terrible deeds just to survive…helping to take them down for good will be my way to atone for it, Kirito-sama!"

"…fine. Your determination is genuine, at least." declared the black-haired boy with a resigned smile, before once again putting his hand on her head, making her blush again. "Just stay with me…and drop the '-sama', okay?"

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with heroine Hiyori!]**

"Bu-but…it's the least I can call you after you basically put all your trust on me back there with your Samurai friends." softly replied the white-haired girl while subtly preening at his touch.

"Still, that's no reason for…!"

"Kii-bou, could you please stop arguing with the girl about such minor things? We clearly have more important things to worry about." spoke a familiar voice from behind the pair, making Lux jump back with a squeak and the gamer to turn back in time to see an amused-looking Argo emerging from the woods, followed by the rest of his 'not-exactly-friends', Kizmel and Sachi dragging along the gagged and defeated-looking form of who he assumed was Grimlock. "Don't you think?"

"…yeah, maybe. I assume Klein already Messaged you with the details?" asked Kirito while giving everyone a greeting smile, doing his best to ignore Kizmel's ranged-kiss and Sachi's wink (She had been spending way too much time alone with the Dark Elf) and to try and not roll his eyes at how Asuna's gaze narrowed while looking from him to the clearly embarrassed Lux.

"Yup, the Nameless Knight just dealt a critical blow to Laughing Coffin and is organizing a rescue mission/final blow against evil quest." commented the whiskered girl while shamelessly sauntering to his side and giving him a peck on the cheek, ignoring Asuna's pout or how Lux watched on with not-so-veiled interest. "Honestly, will you ever not go off and do something crazy as soon as we take our eyes off you?"

"Don't say that as if I was a kid that gets in trouble whenever he's alone, Argo." replied the black-haired boy with a smile on his own, before getting fully serious. "Okay then, this will probably be very dangerous, so we will have to be focused like never before. We need to be ready to expect anything from these lunatics when we go against them."

"Don't worry, Kirito. If these madmen that have lost their way think things will go their way any longer, they have another thing coming." proudly spoke Kizmel while raising her scimitar to mark her words, casually pushing Grimlock's back as she did so, making the man stumble out of Sachi's grasp. "They will all end like this poor bastard, unworthy of calling himself a man."

Apparently not agreeing with her, the indirect-murderer quickly took off running the moment he was free…only to epically 'trip', screaming within his gag as something invisible and soundless swiped his feet from under him and all but slammed him on the ground face-first.

Only the open-mouthed Lux reacted as if anything abnormal had taken place, though Kirito sent a pointed look towards the spear-user of the group as she walked towards the criminal's side.

"Man…that's one way of tripping, eh?" awkwardly chuckled Sachi as she dragged the shaking man to his feet.

Despite not being able to see or hear anything out of the ordinary, the gamer's mind perfectly could picture the _menacing_ image of a cat-eared figure towering behind the sweet and determined girl, her massive fist-claws hovering over Grimlock.

He really was too young to deal with all this shit…

Ten minutes later, within the dark and labyrinthic caves that Laughing Coffin used as their hideout, Red-Eyed Xaxa walked forward with a mix of anger and desperation on his step, unable to believe things had gone to hell so fast and so thoroughly.

There was no way such a simple mission could have ended with both Johnny and the boss caught. At least that's what his mind kept screaming even as he was forced to face the harsh reality, never mind the fact that he was forced to run like a scared bitch.

The only positive thing was that he had managed to get a fast one on those idiots by kidnaping the idiot singer girl. He would more than likely kill her and left her stupid guitar-thing and hat behind before they evacuated (As it was more than obvious that traitorous bitch of Lux would tell them where they were) just to spit on their fa…

Wait, why was he hearing singing and cheering?

Baffled and with a weird sense of anger and disbelief building within, Xaxa arrived at one of the hideout's main chambers…to see more of his 'murderous guildmates' whistling, clapping or cheering loudly as Yuna sang with a calm smile while leaning against a wall, her lute releasing a soft melody in compass with her voice.

"What the hell is going on?!" demanded the masked player with annoyance.

"Hey, Xaxa! Sorry, we were just scaring your little new pet here and then she asked if she could sing us a song to not hurt her." answered one of the random LC members closest to the annoyed killer. "We were just humoring her, but she actually does sing some mighty good songs! Can we keep her as a pet when we run away?"

"Are you serious?! Are you all retarded or what?! We just lost PoH and Johnny and you're all here acting as if this was some stupid idol concert!" shouted Xaxa with annoyance while resisting the urge to pierce the man with his spare estoc. "God, you're all stupider than my whiny and creepy little brother! Just get moving already before we have the entire Front Line group in our doo…!"

"Thanks, everyone!" happily ( _Too happily_ , in the red-eyed player's opinion) spoke Yuna once her song was over, taking all the shouts, catcalls or claps from the killers without seeming fazed at all. "I would like to dedicate that song to all of you, members of Laughing Coffin! All of you…who were stupid enough to let someone widely known in the Front Lines for having a Skill based around singing to sing a complete song before you all."

There were a couple of seconds of blinking confusion at the words before every single player present sans Xaxa fell down to the ground, their bodies 'sparkling' as they were stuck in a long-time 'Stun' status, the last remaining killer standing to gape around in disbelief before looking at the now scowling Yuna, who raised her lute menacingly in one hand and her small dagger on the other.

"…you fucking bitch! I will kill you!"

"Bring it on, cracked face."

Even as the words reminded Xaxa that his iconic piece of headgear was seriously damaged, the masked player screamed and rushed forward with a 'Linear', careening and stepping over his 'companions' as if they were trash, seeking to kill the songstress.

With a shout of her own, the brown-haired girl parried the Sword Skill with her lute, of all things, using her foe's superior speed and strength against him to make him shoot past and slightly to her side, her dagger taking a small chunk of his HP and tearing most of his cloak apart as she did so.

The killer unceremoniously slammed blade-first against the wall, even as Yuna ran away as fast as she could, down one of the many passages filling the hideout.

She had probably taken a tenth turn when a screaming Xaxa caught up to her, the songstress being forced to roll to the side in order to not be impaled from side to side, cursing as she looked up at the cracked mask of her attacker.

"You are…going to fucking die…"

"Do your worst, scum." harshly spat the girl while glaring at him, her very nature being the absolute opposite of the killer before her. "I will go down fighting if I have to."

"That's a lot of bravado for someone who's better playing a fucking guitar rip-off instead of fighting!" snarled Xaxa while feeling his hate for the one that had been a key part on screwing Laughing Coffin to what probably was its end grow. "What?! Expecting your knight in shining armor to come and save you?!"

Yuna bit her lips, almost being tempted to shout him back that yes, she indeed expected him to pop-up at the last moment to save her, before reminding herself how childish that expectation was.

The Nameless Knight was amazing, her savior, a true hero in her eyes…but he was still human, a normal person like her, under the armor and the heroic talk. And she was no princess from a story waiting for a rescue.

To expect him to simply pop-up every time she was in trouble just for her sake was absolutely unrealis…

"Don't touch her, bastard!"

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been Activated!]**

Eyes widening, Xaxa tried to roll to the side, but he only ended screaming as his left arm was severed by the descending Vertical of Kirito while his ragged cloak flapped around him, the single perfect motion being so smooth that even the black-haired boy paused, unable to believe he had pulled that off, before deadpanning towards the Notification that had just appeared.

Of course. Praise the bullshit Skill.

"GAH! Yo-you?!" shouted the masked player while retreating several steps, trying to do his best to ignore the freaky sensation of having lost a limb within VR. "What the fuck is Aincrad's resident playboy doing here?!"

"I'm a Front Liner too, you idiot, and we're all here rounding up your friends right now!" replied the gamer while resisting the urge of crying to the heavens how even killers knew him because of _that_. "We found all of them Stunned up there and they're being bound and moved to prison as we speak! It's over now! Laughing Coffin is done for!"

"Grrr…THEN I WILL AT LEAST TAKE DOWN THAT BITCH WITH ME!" screamed Xaxa with a maddened tone before rushing forward, his estoc pushing Kirito's Elucidator aside and shooting towards the shocked Yuna…

"Oh shit! Watch out, everyone, we broke this conveniently placed underground water dam! Hang on, Nautiluuuuus!"

"Klein-san, I-I told you not to touch iiiiit…!

And that was that the three present players heard as time seemingly stood still before a veritable torrent of water flooded the cave and dragged them all away, their screams being silenced as they were pulled underwater by the current's force.

Doing her best to stay afloat, knowing that she could _still_ die from being too long underwater even if she couldn't really 'drown', Yuna realized it was a futile effort. She may have leveled up a lot since she and Nautilus joined Fuurinkazan, but her STR stat was still nowhere near enough to fight against such a powerful cu…

A pair of strong arms took a hold of her, making her closed eyes to open wide.

There was no armor, but…it was oh-so-familiar for her. The presence, the strength and the care in those arms.

The same ones that had carried her after pulling her away from the grasp of Death.

Unable to believe it, the songstress gaze moved towards the determined face of Kirito as he kept swimming as hard as he could while keeping a hold of her, the 'Ladies Man Swordsman' not even showing the smallest sign of hesitation as he did so.

Then, as fast as it had come, the water seemed to vanish from around them as they rounded a corner, the gamer barely managing to stop himself and slam his feet on solid ground as the liquid kept falling away through a surprisingly deep crevice, both players panting harshly as they tried to recover their virtual breath.

"That…was fucking close…stupid Skill…" mumbled the black-haired boy while shaking his head, glad that his hair and clothes wouldn't really be too difficult to dry once everything was over. "Hey, Yuna, you oka…?"

"It's you…" mumbled the songstress while staring at him with wide eyes, making Kirito tense as he looked down at her intense gaze. "All this time…it was you…"

"Ehm…"

Okay…so, she had figured it out, hadn't she? Well…maybe that was a good thing! Maybe she, despite being polite with him from being part of Klein's guild, actually was like most females in Aincrad and thought him a pervert, and that had totally shattered her image of the…!

 **[You gained 90 Affection Points with Heroine Yuuna!]**

As if the Notification wasn't damning enough, the girl immediately threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in it, something akin to raw happiness seeming to irradiate from her.

"You were so close all this time…my knight in shining armor…" whispered Yuna while moving to stare up at him, the gamer suddenly keenly aware of how close their faces were. "Watching over me even when I didn't realize it."

…fuck.

"We-well, that's not completely…"

"Are you…serious now?!" came an angered and shaking voice from behind the pair, making them turn around to see a sopping wet Red-Eyed Xaxa glaring murder at them as he stumbled forward. "You are…the Nameless Knight?! Oh…I'm going to enjoy doing thi…!"

With a mighty shout, Lux slammed her sword on the back of the killer's head, shattering his infamous mask and sending him to the ground, before moving like a gazelle and throwing his estoc away, quickly tying him up with a rope that she had apparently been carrying. The wide-eyed player didn't even have time to react before she also gagged him, standing up with a scowl as she stomped his back violently.

"Take that! You're never going to hurt anyone again! And I will never just stand by and let something like that happen just to stay alive!" declared the white-haired girl while stomping in his back some more, before blinking and looking up towards the pair deadpanning at her with an embarrassed blush. "A-ah! Kirito-sama, I see you saved Yuna-san! Do-don't worry, we rounded up all the members of Laughing Coffin, and, as far as I knew, those were all of them save for some minor subordinates! Victory is ours!"

"That…that's good to know, Lux." sincerely spoke Kirito while letting Yuna down…and adopting a resigned look when she took a hold of his left hand immediately, even as he sheathed his black blade. "Let's go and meet with the others, okay?"

"Yeah, Nautilus and Klein-san must be worried for me. Let's not keep everyone waiting!"

"Ha-hai, Kirito-sama!" nodded Lux resolutely while dragging Xaxa to his feet…and grabbing his free hand with her left one. "Re-ready to go!"

Upon seeing that, the songstress gaze narrowed slightly before all but pressing herself to the boy's arm, almost daring the other girl to try and do the same. She didn't, but she didn't let go of the gamer's hand either, flushed red all the while. The killer they were dragging screamed within his gag.

That day would be remembered in Aincrad for many things. The end of Laughing Coffin would, no doubt, be the biggest one. The addition of the brave Lux to the 'group' of the infamous Ladies Man Swordsman would be another.

Red-Eyed Xaxa swearing vengeance against him just as he was tossed into the portal leading to Black Iron Palace's dungeons, screaming it wouldn't be the last they saw of Laughing Coffin, was yet another one.

Klein of Fuurinkazan being seen consoling a depressed-looking Nautilus, the youngest member of his guild, and buying him drinks for most of the night would be the last one. Coincidentally, Yuna the Songstress would start dedicating songs to the 'playboy' Kirito from that day onwards.

All in all, it was a day many wouldn't forget, but that a small part of the black-haired boy that still wished for a bit of normalcy in his life desired it could.

* * *

 **June 25th, 2024. 48th Floor, Aincrad. Lisbeth's Smith Shop, 10:30…**

Sitting behind the counter of her humble shop/home, the pink-haired blacksmith known as Lisbeth sighed before staring towards the door for the umpteenth time, hoping anyone would come to kill her boredom.

It wasn't that her sales were bad, not at all. If anything, she sometimes had days where she had to stay working in the forge from early in the morning to closing hours.

The thing was, though, that she felt as if something was…'missing' in her current lifestyle, which really made no sense.

She had managed to get an actual shop with all the nice equipment she needed to be a top-tier blacksmith, graduating from the simple (And kinda sad-looking) vendor's carpet she had before. She had gotten her Blacksmithing Skill high enough to supply even Front Liners, becoming one of the few player blacksmiths in the game able to do so. Hell, she even had her own NPC assistant! Not that Hanna was especially amazing, she had simply come with the house/shop when she bought it, but for Lisbeth she was still quite a sign of how far she had gotten.

And yet, she couldn't help that weird feeling within her, that there was still something she was missing. Ironically, she had been feeling it since one of her talks with Asuna last month.

That was yet another thing that was borderline unbelievable for the pink-haired girl, having become friends with one of the most famous players of SAO, one of the bravest warriors risking their lives on the Front Lines to clear the game: Asuna the Flash herself. It had been quite the shock when the beautiful chestnut-haired girl walked in one day looking around curiously and asked if she could get her rapier Enhanced, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

They had hit it off pretty easily, much to her surprise. Under the fancy stories and the impressive deeds, the rapier-user was just another teenage girl, not much different from her. In fact, her current looks, with her hair dyed pink and an outfit that looked more like a maid's than a blacksmith's, were thanks to the advice from the Front Liner herself. They had met up plenty of times after that first day, both for weapon-related business or to simply talk about things.

Back to the origin of her current anxiety, though, it had started when she noticed how distressed Asuna seemed, and how that only seemed to grow every time they met. Of course, she knew very well what the cause of that was, and the mere thought of it made her (Inexistent) virtual blood boil in anger.

 _Him._

Because anyone who knew about Asuna the Flash knew her not only for her amazing skill but also for the infamous group she was part of.

The so-called 'Harem' of Kirito, the 'Ladies Man Swordsman'.

A player that was probably the closest to horribly infamous without being directly 'hated' by most of Aincrad's population, mainly the minor female one (And a big chunk of the jealous male one). Countless rumors surrounded the boy of the ragged cloak that led the strongest non-guild group in the Front Lines, but there were a few things everyone knew for a fact about him.

One, that his entire group but him was compressed of females. And two, that every single one of them showed clear romantic attraction to him one way or another…and that he clearly was aware of it.

In fact, the boy seemed, for all intents and purposes, beyond unfazed by the situation, and took in stride (Or with a smug smile, depending on which rumors you believed). Whispers of him openly kissing or acting clearly intimate with _several_ of the girls in his group in blatant view of the others circulated through the entire Floating Castle, and, at this point, it was impossible to discern what was true or not even when asking another Front Liner.

Some said the infamous Kirito was actually trying to hold his sanity together in a situation he hadn't asked for. Others that he had already banged every single girl close to him, even the famous Kizmel the Dark Elf, an NPC he had 'managed to charm and keep with him thanks to his godly playboy-powers'.

While Lisbeth did not believe any of those two over-exaggerated versions of both ends of the spectrum, but she had one thing clear: In her eyes, no girl with enough self-respect would willingly want to stay in such a situation…which is why the fact that Asuna WAS still with them baffled her beyond all understanding.

Of course, the pink-haired blacksmith hadn't ever openly brought up the conversation subject of the rapier-user's group, or that of the infamous boy himself, but the chestnut-haired girl seemed more than open to sometimes vent about one thing or another her supposed 'friends' had been up to. Kirito's name popped up so many times in those talks that Lisbeth would have needed to be an idiot to not realize how into him her friend was.

And that was the thing, the crux of her current situation. Because despite her clearly mounting stress and apparent dislike of the situation (Or at least that's how the blacksmith perceived it)…Asuna was happy. There was a bound in her step and a smile on her face every time the names of her friends came out of her mouth, and a clear shine in her eyes the pink-haired girl could barely understand when the infamous boy's one escaped her lips.

Lisbeth wasn't exactly a little girl, she had a couple crushes in the past even if nothing serious had come out of them, but they were nothing compared to the sheer dedication and 'rightness', for lack of a better term, that Asuna's gaze held in those moments.

That's why she felt as she did nowadays, in those moments when she had nothing to do. The pink-haired girl had thought blacksmithing to this level, helping clear the game in her own unique way, achieving her dream like this, would bring her joy and a sense of accomplishment…but all of it paled when compared to how her friend felt by just talking about him, like a candle to the sun.

Idly, she wondered what the hell was so great about a boy who openly fooled around with several girls that would make someone as sensible and smart as Asuna was to stay with…

"…dammit!" came a muffled voice from outside her shop before the door opened violently, making the blacksmith blink as a figure wearing a trademark ragged cloak all but burs inside, closing it behind him and taking a deep breath. "Seriously? Why would anyone start such a ruckus because I am around? Have the rumors gotten so out of control? Ugh…"

"Yo-yo-you!" shouted Lisbeth while pointing an accusing finger towards the boy, who blinked and looked at her in surprise, his eyes completely wide.

"Wha…? Who are you?!"

"I'm the owner of this shop. My name is just outside." answered the girl with a small growl, feeling her eye twitching at the fact that the indirect cause of her current problems had materialized before her. "What can I do for the great Ladies Man Swordsman?"

"…wait…you're Asuna's blacksmith friend? You're a girl?" all but shouted the gamer before groaning loudly, making the blacksmith's anger peak at the apparent insult. "And she never thought of mentioning that little fact before sending me here…?"

"Oh? What's wrong? You don't think a girl can do a proper job if it's not being wooed by your charms?!" growled Lisbeth while feeling the urge to pull out her hammer to whack him over the head.

"…what? No, of course not!" answered Kirito with such honesty that it gave the pink-haired girl pause, confused as she saw him sigh and pull down the upper part of his cloak, fully exposing his face. "That has nothing to do with it, it's just…I think this is Asuna's very twisted idea of a joke, sorry. You…clearly know of my 'reputation', and I bet she knows what you think of me, so when she recommended you when I said I needed a very good blacksmith she probably wanted to make me go through a hard time…"

"Really? Heh, that sounds like something Asuna would do." chuckled the blacksmith as she felt her earlier mood evaporating surprisingly fast, idly aware that, at the very least, the boy was 'cute', in a slightly effeminate way. "Well, I can spend a lot of time reminding you how your very existence is an insult to every girl's pride in this game after we get down to business. What do you need?"

"…a sword. One that's as good or better than this one." declared the boy while stoically ignoring her 'promise', bringing out his famous black sword and putting it on the counter, Lisbeth suddenly looking all business as she examined it. "Can you make it?"

"Hmm…this is a top-quality weapon. Hell, I would probably call it unique, and it has been Enhanced quite a few times on top of that." critically commented the girl while examining Elucidator's Stats, then grunting slightly as she raised the surprisingly-heavy blade. "Kuh…a Quest Reward or a Boss Drop, I assume?"

"The latter. From the 50th Floor Boss." informed the gamer with a small nod, those words telling the blacksmith all she needed to know.

Everyone in Aincrad knew about the so-called 'Super Bosses' that awaited every 25 Floors, after all.

"Hmm, I see. That makes things…complicated." mumbled the blacksmith while crossing her arms, deep in thought.

"It can't be done, then?" asked Kirito with a slightly dejected/resigned tone.

"Wha…?! No, of course I can do it!" quickly replied Lisbeth with flustered/angry tone, feeling her pride as a blacksmith being put in doubt. "I just don't have the materials needed for such a thing here!"

"And…where could you find them?"

"For something of this caliber? I would need top-tier materials." clarified the pink-haired girl with a thoughtful expression. "Something like…well, there is this rumor about a super-rare Ingot that drops from a Dragon-type Boss in the 55th Floor…but they say it will only drop if you have a blacksmith in your Party."

"Oh…so…you would need to come with me?" asked the black-haired boy with a slight grimace.

"Yes…why? Is that a problem?" demanded the blacksmith with narrowed eyes.

For a moment, the gamer felt the temptation of answering _'Yes, because I really don't think you want to fall for me despite how sexy and cute I may think you're, given how much you hate me, just because of my stupid power'_. On the other hand, he _really_ needed a better sword than Elucidator, for the Nameless Knight to not use subpar weapons…and maybe, one day, to wield them both together when needed.

…was he really willing to risk having another girl get dragged into the madness of his life just because he wanted a better sword?

 _"…oh, fuck it, it's not as if I'm not going to go to hell anyway for everything I have done."_ wryly thought Kirito before dragging the full power of his Dating Stats to the front and looking to the side. "No, it's not that, just…sorry, hearing about a 'dragon' and that you had to come with me made me think of a friend of mine that I haven't been able to contact for the past weeks."

"Uh? Really?" asked Lisbeth with surprise, clearly taken aback at the unexpected answer.

"Yeah, she has a pet dragon and…you know this massive thunderstorm that happened in Floor 47 all of a sudden like 2 weeks ago, then vanished without explanation? I haven't been able to contact her since that day, which is why I'm worried." replied the boy with a half-truth, as he WAS worried about Silica not answering his messages, but that had nothing to do with his current decision. "I know she is alive at least, I went to check her name on the Monument o Life as soon as she stopped answering, but…"

"I-I see…we-well, don't worry, I'm sure she's okay! You will see how she shows up fine and dandy in no time!" assured the pink-haired girl while patting the gamer's back. "So…about this Quest?"

"Yeah, let's go. Don't worry, I will make sure you're safe, and even pay a little extra for all the trouble."

"Heh, don't act as if I'm some defenseless girl, Casanova! I will have you know I'm more than able to look after myself despite being just a blacksmith!" boasted her while puffing out her chest, only his Stats stopping Kirito from openly staring at the action. "Now let's get ready for this. Who knows, maybe I will think you're a bit less of an offense for every girl in this game when we're done!"

As soon as Lisbeth finished her words with a small laugh, a new Notification popped up before the boy's eyes.

 **[** **Rika Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Shinozaki Rika!]**

 **[Your current status with Rika changed to 'Not as Terrible as she Thought'!]**

…well, in for a penny, in for a pound, right? And now that he thought about it…

"Say…are you any good with making armor?"

"Huh? Ehm, it's not really my specialty, but I guess I can make some as good as I do weapons…why?"

"Oh, nothing, just curiosity. I have a…friend that may be interested in that."

Better to leave that option open in case something 'unexpected' happened. Besides, at least this had no way of getting stupidly complicated…

* * *

"I fucking jinxed it." declared Kirito a couple hours later while staring with despair from the 'hole' in the snow-covered West Mountain that served both as the nest of _'X'rphan the White Wyrm'_ and now his and Lisbeth's 'prison'. "Why do I keep tempting Fate? Even in my mind? Haven't I learned yet?!"

"Hey, if you're done talking nonsense to yourself maybe you could be panicking like me!" shouted the pink-haired girl while tightly wrapping the mantle the boy had given her, to keep her warm, around her. "There is no way to get out of here, we can't send any messages because it's considered a Dungeon and we can't use Crystals to teleport outside because it's an Anti-Crystal Zone!"

"Calm down, Liz, is not the end of the world." reassured her the boy while walking towards the blacksmith and abusing the hell out of his 'Head-patting' Skill to try and calm her from having almost just died, any protest she may have had upon the 'childish' action vanishing when she all but melted under his touch. "There is no way a 100% inescapable trap would be made within the game; Kayaba may be a lunatic, but so far his world has been 'fair' with players in that regard. There must be a way out of here that's part of the Quest or something like that; otherwise it wouldn't seem so stupidly designed to keep us trapped."

"…do you really think that?" muttered Lisbeth while not looking at him, though not moving away from his soft pats either.

"I'm sure of it." kindly answered the gamer before turning around and looking around. "Until we can figure HOW, though…we should probably get ready to spend the day here at least, maybe the night too."

"Well, if anything someone is bound to notice you're missing soon." dryly commented the girl while rolling her eyes, though Kirito noticed it contained less heat and dislike than the frosty tone she had when they first met just a few hours ago.

This power of his was _really_ fucking scary.

"Yeah, most likely. Well, here you go." replied the boy without missing a beat while throwing a sleeping bag in the blacksmith's direction, who caught with a raised eyebrow. "I have my own here, as well as a couple more in case anything happens…"

"…why do you carry several sleeping bags around in your inventory?"

"…you never know when you will need to stay far away from any Inn or will get caught in the middle of a Field Dungeon…or try to sleep outside for the sake of keeping your sanity intact."

The fact that the gamer said the last part both as a whisper and nostalgia (As if it was something he had stopped doing quite some time ago) made Lisbeth chuckle with amusement at how cute that made him seem, before stopping dead in her tracks and shaking her head. What the hell was she thinking?!

 _"Take deep breaths, Liz, this is Aincrad's Nº 1 Playboy you're with! A-and Asuna's clear crush, even if she clearly isn't willing to accept it! The fa-fact that he isn't as bad as you thought in person doesn't matter. Or how cute he is. Or how he almost killed himself to save your life. O-or…"_

And it was with such thoughts making her head spin that the pink-haired girl found herself lying on her sleeping bag that night, just beside Kirito's and with nothing but an ancient-looking lantern between them.

She actually almost jumped in surprise when she felt the boy sitting down in his own bag and sighing.

"I have looked through every inch of the cave and found nothing in the way of an exit, so maybe it's triggered by a specific amount of time passing down here or it only happens at a specific time of the day." commented the gamer while taking off his cloak and the light armor he wore over his clothes before opening his sleeping bag. "Whatever the case, we will know it for sure by tomorrow, so we should probably sleep alrea…

"Why did you jump after me?" suddenly asked the blacksmith without turning to look at him, making Kirito blink and look at her in surprise. "You…you could have died, maybe for nothing if you hadn't caught me in time…and it was all because I didn't hear your warnings about that stupid dragon…"

"…I would like to say it's because I knew my level was high enough to survive the fall despite shielding you or that I 'knew' I would catch you…but that would be lying, not to mention make me sound like the protagonist of some corny RPG game." softly muttered the boy while looking up towards the distant 'exit' of the cave. "The simple truth, though, is that I wasn't thinking about anything but saving you at that moment, Liz."

"Wha-what?" was Lisbeth's shocked answer, finally turning to look at him.

"My life is…pretty messed up, right now. I'm sure you think you know about it, but…no one really knows _just how much_. Not even my…'friends'." replied the gamer while idly looking towards his 'Menu', the one not of SAO, which he had been checking to know if anything had happened to the girls' status after several hours of not answering their Messages. "I finally accepted that there is no changing that and that I should just roll with it and do my best some time ago…but that's exactly why I promised myself that I would shoulder the consequences of my actions every single time, until the very end. In this case, it was my fault you were even here in the first place, hence why I saved you."

"So…it was all some kind of messed up promise you made to yourself?" tried to understand the girl, even as she wondered why her heart was beating so fast while she heard him say all of that.

Then, she almost felt it jump out of her chest when he turned to fully look at her with a bittersweet smile, which for some reason seemed like the most radiant thing in that semi-dark cave.

"Mostly…but I would lie if I said it wasn't because I didn't want anything to happen to you too, Liz. I'm just a way too stupid person that gets attached to those he likes way too fast." admitted Kirito while raising a closed fist and hitting himself on the side of the head, an amused look on his face. "That's why, as selfish as it sounds from someone you barely know, I will protect you no matter what."

Several seconds of silence followed the declaration, the boy deciding that he probably had talked more than enough as he fully entered his sleeping bag and tried to get in the most comfortable position to sleep despite the cold…before feeling a soft weight pressing itself against his back, the feeling of warmth being definitively pleasant.

"…do-don't misunderstand…I'm just very cold right now." mumbled the blacksmith with a beet red face even as she buried herself against the gamer's back, their sleeping bags now firmly pressed against the other while he held onto his back through it. "M-my opinion of you hasn't changed…just a little teeny bit…maybe…"

 **[You gained 30 Affection Points with Heroine Rika!]**

"…as you say, Liz." kindly 'believed' Kirito while closing his eyes, the feeling of a girl pressed against _and_ holding him being something he was already more than used to.

…he really liked to consider that as a good thing nowadays. Otherwise, he would go back to the days where he was having a hard time holding onto his sanity.

The next day, things took quite a surprising turn when he found what was clearly the Item they had been looking for; a rare metallic Ingot…which was, at least lore-wise, the excrements of the crystal-eating dragon that lived there.

"Are you serious?" groaned Lisbeth while looking at the thing in the boy's hand with a mix of disgust and fascination. "I mean, I guess it's just a game and it's not as if that's _actually_ dragon's excrement, but…"

"I get it, don't worry. I will keep it in my Inventory for now, okay?" replied the gamer while putting the Ingot away. "Well, now all that we need to do is find out how to get out of…"

A deafening roar interrupted his words, making both players cover their ears just as the familiar form of X'rphan the White Wyrm descended into the cave, snarling and clearly not pleased with their presence.

"Are you serious?!" screamed the girl while taking a step back, clearly both scared and frustrated. "How is anyone expected to fight that thing in such a closed space?!"

"Liz, stay behind me." seriously spoke Kirito while taking out his sword and standing before the blacksmith, a crazy idea starting to form in his head as the dragon Boss landed and roared menacingly once again. "I think I know a way out of…"

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

…or that could happen, yeah.

"KIRITO-SAAAAN!"

"KYUU!"

The two familiar voices (One shout and one loud animal sound, really) made any complaints the boy had about his Skill's sudden activation vanish as he looked up with absolute shock…in time for a lightning bolt to crash down and fry X'rphan on the spot, making the monster scream in pain and slam against the wall.

Then, a car-sized blue creature landed before the two wide-eyed players, its body covered by sharp and majestic-looking blue feathers, the impressive horn on her head still oozing static electricity while her red eyes settled over them…and then proceeded to happily rub her head against the gamer's body, cooing all the way, almost throwing him to the ground with the action.

"Pi-Pina?!" all but screamed Kirito while staring at the 'noticeably' bigger feathery dragon.

"Kirito-san, there is no time!" called the familiar voice once again, making the boy and the blacksmith look towards the creature's back to see none other than Silica riding on her pet's back, wearing a bizarre and very fantasy-looking set of 'armor'.

Actually, calling it armor may have been generous, as the metallic-looking thing, which seemed made of some sort of shining blue scales, just conservatively covered the young girl's chest and hips, looking like little more than fingerless gloves and small boots in her hands and feet.

The 'helmet' was quite impressive, though, for it framed her face slightly and extended around her head like a tiara, with a smaller, if very similar, horn to the one in Pina's forehead sticking out of the front.

"What in the…?! Where did you get that armor?!" shouted Lisbeth while looking the girl up and down in shock.

"Later! Now hop on before it recovers from Pina's Paralysis!" urged the Dragon Tamer just as the growling Boss started to stand again.

Realizing that they didn't have any time, Kirito _acted_ , grabbing the pink-haired girl up bridal style and not even giving her time to squeak as he jumped with her on the blue dragon's back.

With a mighty and not-so-menacing _'Kyuu!'_ , Pina shot upwards, the black-haired boy being forced to tightly grab the feathers from her back to hold on at the same time he didn't drop the terrified blacksmith.

Seconds later, they were out, the light of the morning sky greeting the three of them as the familiar flew into the open sky of Aincrad.

For a moment, the gamer marveled at the sight, even Lisbeth falling silent as she looked with wonder at the impossible view, before he felt someone leaning on his side, looking down to see Silica letting out a relieved sigh and giving him a bright smile.

"I'm so glad we made it in time…with this, I have repaid you for saving me the first time, Kirito-san."

"Silica…you don't know how glad I'm you're okay!" exclaimed Kirito before shamelessly holding onto the young girl with his free arm, not caring he was still holding the pink-haired blacksmith with the other as he pressed her against him, an embarrassed squeak escaping from her mouth. "When you stopped answering my Messages after that thunderstorm, I was afraid that…"

"I-I'm truly sorry, Kirito-san…" whispered Silica with a scarlet face, while 'subtly' pressing herself more against him, her headgear's horn actually poking his chin, though he didn't make any attempt to remove her. "When the battle against Kirin-sensei got out of hand and then all the craziness Pina and I had to deal with during the aftermath, I just lost track of everything else, and…"

"Wait, you're the girl he was talking about yesterday!" realized Lisbeth before realizing the position they were in, struggling between being outraged or just sate her curiosity. "Ho-how are you…? This dragon is too…!"

"…did you just say Kirin-sensei?" flatly asked the black-haired boy while staring down at the young girl.

"Ye-yes! You see, I didn't tell you in our messages because I wanted to surprise you, but Pina actually got some weird lightning powers after resurrecting! S-so, we started using them to level up like crazy, to try and become Front Liners so we could help you out!" revealed Silica while looking suddenly excited. "She had a lot of troubles controlling them after a certain point, though, so we went to look for that Kirin who gave her the powers in the first place!"

"You did what?!" screamed Kirito while looking at her in horror.

"What the hell is a Kirin?" asked the blacksmith while feeling clearly lost.

"This big and scary dragon-horse…he wasn't so scary, though! It looked as if he recognized Pina when we found him and then a Quest popped up for me! It said that he could teach Pina 'The Ways of the Elder Dragons'!" continued the young girl with a determined look. "We were training with him for like a month before a new Quest popped up, saying tha-that Pina had to beat him in a battle of dragons to complete her training!"

"And you didn't think to tell me any of this?!" at this point, it was all but impossible for the black-haired voice to not raise his voice, even as Lisbeth looked stunned at the girl that didn't look older than 13. "Silica, you could have died!"

"I-I know, but…I wanted to prove that…me and Pina had grown up. That I had managed to learn and become better from you!" passionately declared Silica with determined eyes, surprising the gamer with their intensity. "A-and we did it! In the last moment, when it seemed we wouldn't make it, Pina absorbed Kirin-sensei's lighting with her horn and evolved into this size!"

"Oh…and that's how you won the fight because that's what it had intended all along?" ventured the pink-haired girl with interest.

"Eh? No, then Pina tore into him and ripped off his throat!" happily continued the twin-tailed girl as if it was the most normal thing in the world, freezing both older teens. "That caused major critical damage to him, so she kept going until he died while I helped by stabbing his eyes! That's when I got the notification the Quest was over, got a bunch of Experience, this nice super-rare armor and some loot Items I had never seen before!"

"…what?" was all that Kirito could say at seeing Silica's blatant lack of care for the brutal violence she and her pet had inflicted on someone she was still referring to as 'Sensei'.

"Yeah…after that I was so exhausted I fell asleep for almost a day. Then I realized I couldn't exactly go back to a town with Pina like this without causing a commotion, so we set off to explore her new limits…" sheepishly commented the young girl while looking to the side. "Turns out, she can't really fly outside Aincrad, sadly, but she _can_ go up to any unlocked Floor by 'climbing' up the edge of the 'ceilings'…"

"Ehm…Silica, was it? I hate to interrupt your touching if slightly disturbing tale of growth and determination, but THAT THING IS CATCHING UP TO US!"

A roar behind the trio made the only boy present realize the meaning behind Lisbeth's words, turning his head in time to see X'rphan flying after them, anger filling the dragon's eyes.

"Don't worry, Liz-san!" happily declared Silica while looking forward. "Even carrying us three, Pina is still way lighter and faster than him, there is no way…!"

Of course, that's when the Boss unleashed its infamous Freezing Breath, making the 'Elder Feathery Dragon' (And God, how weird that sounded in the gamer's head) scream as they all shook…and Lisbeth fell off Kirito's arms, flying through the air straight towards X'rphan open mouth.

"What does this thing have against meeeee?!" cried the pink-haired girl while closing her eyes and greeting her death once again…

"Kirito-san?!"

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

…only for the already familiar feelings of a certain boy's arms to wrap around her, his teeth gritted fiercely as his leg shone and he executed the 'Gengetsu' Skill, the backflip kick brutally slamming the dragon's mouth shut and allowing him to throw the blacksmith back towards the quickly descending Pina, who caught her in her claws.

Then he was falling out of control towards the ground at a height several times beyond deadly, with an angry Boss turning around and shooting after him while two girls screamed his name in the background.

X'rphan seemed very determined to end him before the ground did, though, as not even an anguished Pina's latest lightning bolt was enough to interrupt its deadly descend, despite leaving his HP on the red.

 _"So…this is how it ends, uh?"_ idly thought Kirito while staring almost impassively towards the massive dragon maw descending to swallow him. _"I mean, I can't say I was expecting to have a 'Good End', but…it's ironic. Now I can only regret not having done a lot more things with the girls…huh, talk about improper last thoughts, maybe this power REALLY did turn me into a bit of a perve…?"_

 _"Can you hear me, my greatest pupil?"_

"…what." flatly said the black-haired boy upon hearing the distantly familiar voice…one that there was no way he was actually hearing. "…old man of the Martial Arts?"

 _"Yes, my pupil. It is I."_ confirmed the voice while Kirito could almost see, as impossible as it was, the image of the old man sitting in a Meditation-position over one of those Gods-damned rocks of his. _"I'm talking to you all the way from Floor 2, through the powerful bond that joins us as Master and Disciple."_

"…you told me to smash a rock without weapons and put whiskers on my face until I could do it. Once. And you didn't even stick around to watch me do so!" all but screamed the boy while ignoring the insanity of the situation and the ever-approaching form of X'rphan.

 _"…our powerful bond."_ continued the old man NPC as if the gamer hadn't said anything, making him scream in frustration again. " _As I was saying, though, I want to congratulate you, my disciple, for having done what no one before had: Been stupi…ehem, I mean, been determined enough to wear the Cloak of Effort long enough to execute 1000 Martial Art Skills with it."_

"…you just called me stupid, right? You totally did!"

 _"…and as such!"_ ignored him once again the Martial Arts Master. _"You have proven yourself worthy of its True Power."_

"…eh?" was all that the shocked Kirito could ask before his eyes widened when his old and ragged cloak started to shine. "EH?!"

 _"Good luck, my pupil. May you conquer this Floating Castle and find your way back home…"_

As soon as the old man's last words vanished from the boy's mind, the supernatural radiance vanished from his long-time trademark garment, having changed it completely.

It was now of a strong dark gray, looking brand new, with no holes or ragged edges, like the mantle of a hardened warrior from some distant land instead of the poor clothing for a desert traveler that it had seemed so far.

Above all that, though…it made him feel light as a feather. And filled with an amazing strength…

When the dragon Boss' next roar exploded right in his face, Kirito didn't think. He simply _moved_ , his leg shining once again as he delivered a brutal roundhouse kick that knocked X'rphan's head to the side in a terribly painful angle, one of the monster's teeth actually cracking from the sheer force.

The last of the dragon's HP was unable to withstand the surprisingly powerful blow, vanishing into nothingness together with its owner, a shower of breaking polygons falling all around the wide-eyed boy while a screen informed him of the Experience and Items he had just obtained.

His mind was still trying to process what the fuck had just happened when Pina swept past him and he landed on her back, between the arms of two worried-sick girls.

"Kirito-san! You're okay!"

"Go-Gods in Heaven, what were you thinking when you did that?!"

"…that I didn't want you to get eaten?"

The words coming from his mouth earned him a bone-crushing hug as reward, Lisbeth burying her face on his chest while calling him an idiot several times, Silica quickly doing the same on his back, though with her saying how glad she was that he was fine.

Absentmindedly, the boy reassured them everything was fine while operating his Menu (The SAO one) and staring at the Item he was now wearing.

'Cloak of Champions'. It _tripled_ the effectiveness and power of any Martial Art Skills.

That…all of that had been such a total bullshit and complete Deus Ex Machina that the gamer inside of Kirigaya Kazuto felt deeply offended by it all. On the other hand…this had to be the _first goddamn time_ his Skill actively gave him a direct reward/benefit when trying to save one of his 'Heroines', so a part of him felt like crying in happiness.

In the end, he settled for simply patting both crying girls' heads as the dragon they were riding headed towards the sunset…

 **['Escape of the Dragon' has been added to the Gallery!]**

* * *

"…and so, this is the fabled Rare Ingot." muttered Lisbeth once they were back in her shop sometime later, Silica looking on with interest at the raw material in the blacksmith's hands while Kirito stood near her with a tired but content look.

Pina was currently 'hidden' behind the shop, resting on the small river that passed by it (Even if the boy wasn't sure about leaving a creature with electric powers in the water).

"So? Think you can make something good with it?"

"Are you kidding?! Between how amazing this thing is and how pumped I am after all that madness, I feel as if I could forge a legendary weapon!" grinned the pink-haired girl before turning around and heading towards her smithy, the other two players looking curiously as she set everything ready for the forging process. "Okay, with this as the base, we just need to add some good enhancement materials to make sure…"

"Ah! Wait, Liz-san, will this maybe help with that?" suddenly questioned the Dragon Tamer while operating her Menu and bringing out something from her inventory, the sight of which almost made Kirito shout in shock.

It was a familiar-looking bluish horn, the size of a medium-sized television, and that seemed to glow faintly before the forge's fire.

"Wha-what…?" mumbled a stunned Lisbeth while slowly taking the thing out of Silica's hands, staring dumbly at it before looking at its Description like a little girl who had just received a Christmas gift early. "Thi-this is a…Super Rare Enhancement Item…"

"Isn't that…the Kirin's horn?" asked the black-haired boy with a slightly dry voice.

"Yup! Pina ripped it from Kirin-sensei's head when she beat him!" happily commented Silica while giving Kirito a bright and innocent smile. "We also got a bunch of his scales!"

"That's…" started to say the gamer, before the sound of metal getting superheated and a mace being slammed down distracted him from his conflicted feelings.

Both he and the young girl turned to see Lisbeth slamming her hammer against the now shining metallic ingot, the horn that she had put just above it shining for a moment before shattering and covering the glowing metal.

Kirito found himself almost mesmerized by the passionate and concentrated look in the pink-haired girl's face as she swung her weapon/tool down again and again with clockwork-like precision, almost like a metallic heartbeat.

Why was it that every girl he met since he got this crazy power was amazing in one way or another? And was that horribly good or bad luck?

The blacksmith, for her part, had stopped paying attention to the world around her, nothing but the sight of her arm swinging the hammer down upon the half-formed weapon mattering in her mind at that moment.

All the while, though, the image of the boy standing not far from her kept moving to the front of her consciousness, all the moments they shared together since he entered her shop yesterday, all their interactions, all his honest and warm smiles, the warmth of his back in that cave, the feeling of her heart seeming about to break apart when she saw him falling down with that dragon after him because he saved her, the joy and awe when he glowed and his cloak changed before he basically kicked the dragon to death…

 _"Ah…dammit. Asuna, dear…I think I now understand the source of your frustration…"_ idly thought Lisbeth while she felt her face blushing softly as a smile split it. _"He's really just…too much…"_

And with that last thought, the pink-haired girl's hammer fell down one last time, the glow coming from the morphing Ingot becoming blinding for a second before it materialized into something new.

For a few seconds, silence filled the room before the blacksmith softly caressed the blade, looking over her stats with a bright smile before turning around and presenting it to Kirito, who stared dumbfounded at it, his hands almost shaking as he reached out to touch it with almost reverence.

In a few words, it was beautiful. Of a white-bluish color from hilt to tip, the sword seemed like something straight out of a fantasy MMO of old, with its mighty edge and the overly-complex guard, the cosmetic details on it (Which looked like a pair of 'claws' aiming upwards) almost seeming to shine with an electric edge. Resting on its guard's center, just above the hilt, a 'jewel' that reminded him way too much of the Kirin's eye seemed to stare back at the boy.

All in all, it looked like something made more to seem amazing than to be practical at a glance…and the gamer loved it SO much he had to resist the urge of grabbing it and just raising it above his head while screaming about _'Having the Power!'_ like he was an 8 years old kid.

"Elder Emperor…a bit of a fancy name, but I can say without a doubt that it's the best work I have ever made." proudly declared Lisbeth while Kirito just nodded dumbly, which made her smirk. "It seems you're satisfied with it, eh?"

"It's…beautiful, Liz…" mumbled the black-haired boy while raising it with almost reverence, Silica releasing a small awed sound as she saw the majestic-looking blade. "I…I don't even know if anything I pay you will be enough for it…"

"Well, you can start by telling me what was that thing about armor you mentioned when we first met." answered the pink-haired girl without missing a beat, even as the Dragon Tamer tilted her head in confusion and the gamer froze. "After that, well…"

"…oh, what the hell? Here, I trust you both more than enough to keep the 'secret'…" sighed Kirito before quickly opening his menu…and changing all of his Equipment in a fluid movement.

Both girls gasped while instinctively taking a step back, staring wide-eyed at the famous form of the fabled 'Nameless Knight' standing before them.

"N-no way…Kirito-san is the Nameless Knight?!" shouted Silica…before stars appeared in her eyes as she jumped in place. "A-amazing! You're even more awesome and brave than I thought!"

"You're…both the arguably most hated non-Orange player and the more famous and respected by most of the population?" muttered the blacksmith before openly chuckling. "Somehow, that seems to perfectly fit you."

"Yeah, well…this thing is in _serious_ need of an Upgrade." simply declared the boy while taking off his helmet and handling it to Lisbeth, who looked down at it, weighed it, checked its Stats and then stared back at him in disbelief.

"Really?! Why are you going around the Front Lines wearing something that is almost the equivalent of you running around naked in those Floors?!"

For a moment, the girl paused while considering her own words, a noticeable blush covering her face once again when her mind conjured the aforementioned image. From where she was standing, the Dragon Tamer's own face suddenly seemed about to catch fire as she apparently suffered the same fate.

"There were actually two reasons. One was because I couldn't exactly just go around to any blacksmith asking to Upgrade it, why with my 'secret identity', and NPC blacksmiths had a high chance to do a subpar job…but the real reason is just indirectly related to that." revealed the gamer while walking to Lisbeth's side and looking down at the helmet. "Did you notice how light it is, despite being metallic? Even back when I was around Floor 10, the thing barely weighed me down at all. And I never had problems with my vision when wearing the helmet despite how that should have gone…"

"But…that doesn't make sense." whispered the blacksmith with clear shock. "Armor in Aincrad is supposed to…"

"Be as realistic as possible, yeah. That's also the reason why almost no one wears a helmet even when equipped with full body heavy armor. Thing is, though…I kind of stole this from the armory of an Elven Castle, so I think it may actually be some kind of special metal. Any other armor I tried just to see if I could use as replacement weighed me down and restricted my movements way too much." sighed Kirito before looking straight into the girl's eyes, making her heart go crazy once again. "I never thought I would ask this of anyone, but…can you melt it down and re-forge it, Liz? If it's you…I'm sure it will end up being even better than before."

"…hey, Silica!" all but shouted Lisbeth once she recovered enough cognitive ability to look away from the boy's eyes, snapping the Dragon Tamar out of her own (And slightly jealous) daze. "You said you had some scales of that Kirin thing too, right?!"

A few minutes later…the Nameless Knight stood, looking as if he was the main character from some fantasy anime that had just gone through an unexpected Power-Up, his armor now shining with a brand-new radiance and a new slightly 'bluish' hue. Also including some sharper edges that gave it a 'scale-like' look.

"Ho-how does it feel, Kirito-san?" asked Silica once it was obvious the blacksmith was too busy just staring at the 'knight in shining armor' to say anything.

For all answer, the armored boy brought both Elucidator and Elder Emperor out, raising both blades in the air before triggering a simple 'Double Circular', the Dual Blades Skill looking absurdly amazing in his new looks and with the new blade.

"…perfect."

The Dragon Tamer was unable to not clap in awe while Lisbeth gave out a bright grin.

"Well then…about payment for all of it…" started the gamer before biting his lips under the helmet. "I…actually don't know if the prize we agreed is actually enough for…"

"Oh, don't worry, there is certainly a way you can pay for it!" happily declared the pink-haired girl while putting her hands together. "Say, you and your friends most certainly need their own personal blacksmith, right? I would be happy to volunteer for the job in exchange for you helping me Level Up!"

"…eh?"

"A-and, Kirito-san, le-let me and Pina join you!" shouted Silica with a blushing face but a determined gaze. "W-we're strong enough for that now!"

 **[You gained 20 Affection Points with Heroine Keiko!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Unreachable Dream' has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Dream of Love'!]**

 **[You gained 70 Affection Points with Heroine Rika!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Not as Terrible as she Thought' has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Private Blacksmith'!]**

…well, this was certainly going to be a fun one to explain to the girls…

* * *

As he reached the house where he and his 'not-exactly-friends' were currently staying at, Kirito couldn't help but feel an ominous sense of foreboding looming over him.

The boy had already answered the MANY worried Messages he had found himself receiving after getting out of the dragon's nest, calming down the girls and more or less explaining what had happened, except for a few 'details' he said he would explain in person.

When he had only received short, acknowledging answers, he had been worried. When he realized a single person hadn't actually answered him, he had felt slightly terrified, a feeling that was still present on the back of his mind as he entered the house, looking for the needed Menu to turn on the lights…

"Kirito-kun."

"…Asuna." sighed the black-haired boy while looking at the form of the chestnut-haired girl sitting in the small living room's table, the lack of light giving her an ominous look. "Hi there. I'm back."

 **[Yuuki Asuna: 'Kind Fencer']**

 **[Relationship Status: Best Friends (?)]**

 **[Affection Points: 99/100]**

Of course, the only reason why he didn't outwardly show how terrified/worried he was by the whole thing was because of his stupid power. Gods bless those absurdly high Dating Stats of his.

"…Liz just sent me a Message, you know? It seems we now have our own personal blacksmith and that she wants to know if she can join us in the Front Lines at some point." continued the rapier-user with a terrifyingly neutral tone. "She also mentioned there is a girl with a dragon that will 'join' us after you talked it out with us."

"Yeah, I talked about her some time ago. Silica, remember? Things go…complicated, making my new sword and we ended meeting up again in the middle of the whole thing…" mumbled the gamer while scratching his cheek. "But really, I would prefer if everyone was here when I explained the…"

All the living room's lights turned on in that moment and Kirito instinctively readied himself to defend from Asuna suddenly lashing out…only to blink at seeing a full-course and delicious-looking meal served before the serious-looking girl.

"Sit down and eat." said the rapier-user with a no-nonsense tone.

"…sure, I'm starving." replied the boy while doing exactly that, barely resisting the urge to moan in delight (Thanks to his Stats once again) when he took his first bite. "Hmm…delicious. All those times you would just randomly get to cook things have paid off."

"I actually mastered the Cooking Skill last week…" whispered Asuna while carefully looking how the gamer ate before taking a deep breath. "…since I was young, I was raised to be a proper and perfect lady, you know?"

"Oh?" muttered Kirito with a precisely neutral tone, ignoring the urge to tell her she shouldn't mention the real world if she wasn't comfortable in favor of doing what his power was guiding him to do. "It certainly shows, if I can say so."

"Heh, idiot…" muttered the chestnut-haired girl while looking down, clenching her fists. "But…yes. What should I eat, how should I dress, which 'parties' should I attend, the quality of my studies, what was expected of me in the future…I was barely starting to grow up beyond being a child when all of it was laid down before me and I never did anything but obey mindlessly. I thought that was fine…until I got trapped here in SAO. That mentality led me to try and kill myself in a glorified way with the excuse of 'going down fighting'…"

"Asuna…"

"…and then I met you." stopped him the rapier-user before looking up with slightly teary eyes. "And my whole life was turned upside down. You showed me a side of life I had never imagined, you showed me what having friends was truly like, what working towards a goal out of your own will felt like…what a family truly was like, something which I had almost forgotten."

"I just tried to do what I thought was right." softly said Kirito while instinctively putting down his fork and grabbing her hand. "You fit right here with all of us on your own. I probably have brought you more headaches than I'm worth…"

"And that's the funny thing! You haven't!" chuckled Asuna while suddenly looking impossibly amused and weirdly sad at the same time. "All the weirdness going around, all the blatant affection, how you somehow manage to be both a chick-magnet yet be clearly terribly honest and sincere about the whole thing…I should hate you. I should want to punch your face in…but I don't because I have never been happier in my whole life. Because…I have never felt more at home than when I am with everyone…with you."

"…I'm truly happy when I'm with you all too, as selfish as it sounds." laughed the boy while squeezing her hand harder. "Gods, I must really be a mess as a person…"

"Yes…yes, you are." smiled the chestnut-haired girl while standing up, making the gamer blink up at her. "But I love you just like you are and I'm fucking tired of denying it, consequences be damned."

Then, unceremoniously, the rapier-user reached forward, grabbed Kirito's cloak and pulled him towards her at the same time she leaned forward.

This wasn't the first time the boy was kissed, but it was certainly the fiercest one. Asuna seemed to be trying to suck out his soul through his mouth.

Once again by instinct, he reached forward and dragged her towards him, the girl sitting on his lap and uncaring of the mess she made of the food as if it was the most natural thing for her. Suddenly, both of them seemed lost in their own world, in a trance that nothing could break them from…

 **[You gained 121 Affection Points with Heroine Asuna!]**

…what the actual hell?!

 **[Relationship Status 'Best Friends' has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Perfect Wife'!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Perfect Wife' has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Soulmates'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You gained the achievement 'I still got the girl!'! You gain +10 in Aura!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have reached the Last Level of a Heroine's Route! You will Unlock a Special Event if you Max this Level!]**

Thrown out of his loop by his 'power' for the first time in months, Kirito had actually stopped kissing back or holding Asuna in favor of staring at the Notifications, but the girl didn't seem undeterred by that. In fact, she was starting to reach for the edges of his cloak as if to try to take it off, probably forgetting one could only do such manually with their own equipment because of the Ethics Code…

When an overly loud cough made her freeze on the spot, her eyes moving to the side to see an annoyed-looking Argo standing on the living room's entrance with a smiling Kizmel at her side, every other human girl of their 'group' staring from the edges of the doorframe with blushing faces.

If there was any consolation to the slowly crashing mind of the rapier-user, though, it was that it looked like Yuna hadn't decided to drop unannounced (Again) that day.

"What did I tell you, Argo?" calmly spoke the Dark Elf while aiming a somewhat smug grin towards the Info Broker. "She was totally going to burst and show her true feelings."

"Ugh, I was sure she was just going to lash out at him…last time I make a bet with you." grumbled Argo while materializing some Col and handing it to Kizmel, who put it away without any shame. "Ehem, so, yeah…while I'm happy you're no longer lying to yourself, Aa-chan, I would like to kindly ask you get off Kii-bou. Like, right now."

"Why?" asked Asuna with an almost possessive tone.

"Because it looks like you broke him." chimed in Lux while pointing towards the boy's face, who certainly made him look quite out of it.

"A-and you wo-would be basically assaulting him if you tried to do something to him in that state!" half-shouted Sachi with a nervous expression.

One of the plates at the edge of the table chose that moment to 'jump' out of it, making Asuna squeak and dodge out of the way by jumping off Kirito.

"What the…?!"

"N-no! Bad Night Kitty!" scolded Sachi with a burning face, pointing towards something no one could see. "Bad spirit! Do-don't hurt my friends!"

A moment of silence ensued, even Kirito snapping out of his shock to STARE at the suddenly frozen spear-user, before they all talked at the same time.

"Did you just acknowledge its existence?!"

Sachi could only whimper in answer, even as the black-haired boy groaned and stood up, wondering if he should feel very lucky or terribly screwed.

But hey…at least this couldn't really get any more complicated, right?

Sitting beside Kirigaya Kazuto's hospital bed in the real world, Kirigaya Suguha sneezed loudly, dropping the magazine she had brought to read after she finished taking care of her adopted brother's room. Reaching down to grab it, a fierce blush covered her face upon seeing it had landed on an article about weddings, her mind starting to fantasize…

Back in Aincrad, Kirito felt a chill run down her back.

Oh yeah, he had totally jinxed himself.

Again.

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Daddy's Little Girl

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Longest chapter of the story, finished!

I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Gotta say, a lot of things here were increasingly amusing/fun to think/write. Yuna's reveal, Lux's interaction, the difference with Liz's first meeting with Kirito because of his 'reputation' and yet his Eroge-enhanced natural charm just making her fall harder, Silica's epic return, Asuna 'exploding'…lots of fun XP

Also, our Ladies Man Swordsman should be proud, he got a power-up! Kind of, mostly because of his Skill trying to save his Waifus in another convoluted way, but hey, it's the first (And probably last) time it tried to help by giving HIM something, so it's something :P

And we had lots more Klein this chapter, because more Klein is always good XD

Well, with that said, I can now bid you all goodbye, my dear readers! Just 2 chapters until we end Canon SAO and start deviating into the SAO Gameverse, and also I start my new Update schedule, so I hope you're looking forward to it! Next time, Kirito faces a threat his powers didn't prepare him for: 'parenting'. Also, Kayaba's reaction to the events that have been happening is _finally_ shown, and some more craziness gets thrown around as the group's interactions start evolving…

Until then, though, this is Saint, signing off!


	7. Scene 6: Daddy's Little Girl

Hello again, people! How are you? I'm great, because this story has surpassed the 400 reviews! Thanks once again for all your support!

Also, I wanted to take the chance to address a concern pointed out by 2 Guest Reviewers: Yes, Kirito should have gained an 'Achievement' when getting 6 Routes, I went back and fixed it so thanks for pointing it out XP Also, to the answer of one of you, the Christmas with the Boss that dropped the 'Divine Stone of Returning Soul' was that of 2023 (I just completely skipped it because it was kind of inconsequential as an actual event on this storyline). Kirito and the girls were in the Elf Castle and such during 2022. Hope that clarifies things :3

With that said, I leave you all with the second-to-last chapter of the Aincrad arc! (And also the 'second dating arc' XD) It has some action and quite a bit of crazy things happening, so hopefully you enjoy it!

And, as always, reminder that help filling this fic's TvTropes page is appreciated, as this humble author is a shitty Troper OwO

Enjoy!

 **PS:** This chapter was Betaed by pikatwins234. It's great to have you back, pal!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 6: Daddy's Little Girl**

 **October 18th, 2024. 74th Floor, Aincrad. Somewhere within the Labyrinth, 09:30…**

"Well…it's certainly a surprise to cross paths with you all here, that's for sure." commented the blue-haired man known as Diavel, also the Knights of Blood second in command, while staring at the famous guild before him and his small Explorer Party.

"Yeah, well, it's a small world! Or Floating Castle, I guess." grinned Klein before turning to look at the rest of his friends. "Right, guys?"

Certainly, at this point, there was almost no one Aincrad that didn't know of Fuurinkazan. They were just one step below the KoB in importance…and doubtlessly way more popular, as much as the reasons behind that gave Diavel a headache.

If it had been because of the girl with the lute that even now was calmly humming a song about 'catching the moment' or something at the back of the group, then maybe he could accepted it. But sadly, Yuna the Songstress was just another added thing to Fuurinkazan's popularity.

The main reason for it was, without a doubt, the bizarre object that even now rested against the wall of the small Safe Zone within the Floor Labyrinth. The strangely spherical 'rock', vehicle, known as the Fuurin-mobile (And just thinking about that name gave the man a terrible headache).

"Anyway, have you made any interesting discoveries?" asked the KoB's vice-commander while trying to keep a polite small on his face. "We're trying to map the Labyrinth as best as we can and…"

"We-well, we found the Boss Room, like 20 minutes ago." commented Nautilus while trying (And failing) to sound casual, which made the blue-haired man wince slightly, remembering how he indirectly had led the boy down the path to abandon the Knights of Blood and join Fuurinkazan.

Ironically, not only had he managed to, somehow, overcome the problem that made him leave the guild in the first place, he also seemed way happier and more confident than when he was part of them.

Then, the words he had just said registered in his mind.

"Wait…you did?!" shouted a shocked Diavel while his fellow Knights of Blood muttered in surprise. "Did you scout it or something?!"

"Just took a quick glance at it…a mean thing that looks like some demonic minotaur in steroids called 'The Gleam Eyes'. Has a sword longer than Agil is tall." grunted Klein while clearly not liking the memory of the creature. "We didn't have enough Potions prepared so we took caution and retreated without trying to look deeper, though."

"A wise decision, as expected of you, Klein-san." acknowledged the vice-commander with a nod, knowing how much the bandana-wearing man valued his teammates and friends despite his goofy attitude. "Could you share the Map Data with us, then? Commander Heathcliff will want to know as soon as possible so we can get a Strategy Meeting ready for…"

"Funny, you're actually the second ones who ask us that…" spoke a frowning Yuna, apparently done humming-singing her new song while their leader happily exchanged the data. "Those armored guys from The Army did it too, but they were way less pleasant about it."

"Well, those guys are a bit too…"

"Annoying?"

"Jerks?"

"Inconsiderate?"

"Okay, okay, none of us likes the Aincrad Liberation Force, but there is no reason to talk bad about those annoying inconsiderate jerks in front of others!" 'silenced' Klein in a very 'peculiar' way, which the blue-haired man would probably have reacted harder to if he hadn't been frozen by the songstress initial statement.

"Wait…The Army asked you for your Map Data?…did you tell them you had found the Floor Boss?"

"Ehm, yeah? Why?" asked Klein in confusion before blinking upon seeing Diavel's quickly paling face. "…wha…? No…I mean, no way…heheh…there is no way Kibaou would be stupid enough to order his subordinates to push exhausted members of his guild to take on a Floor Boss, right?"

Several seconds of silence ensued as the present members of both Front Liner Guilds thought about those words.

Then, Diavel was already running as fast as his heavy armor allowed him in the direction the new Map Data had shown him, his subordinates/guildmates shouting as they followed even as Klein barked orders to the rest of the startled Fuurinkazan.

All the while, the blue-haired man kept praying that the guild leader was right. That Kibaou hadn't turned so stupid to try such a thing just because of the low popularity his guild got lately. That, even if he had, whoever had been ordered to do so wouldn't be retarded enough to push overworked and underleveled players against…

"AAAAAHHH!"

Cursing everything under the sky, the KoB's vice-commander unsheathed his blade and gripped his shield tightly, turning the corner that led towards the Boss Room and seeing, just as he had feared/knew, the massive doors already open, the sounds of battle (Though mainly screams) reaching him all the way there.

Despite it only taking him 5 seconds to get into the room, Diavel felt as if took an eternity, and he was just in time to see one of the poor filler Army members (Maybe that had been a mean thought, but really, why would they all wear armor AND helmets that made them look basically identical?) being smashed against the wall and shatter into polygons (the one that had been leading the group if their screams about their leader dying were anything to go by).

In the middle of the chaos, the terrifying figure that was Gleam Eyes roared, looking like a demon from hell born just to slaughter the innocent.

…fucking Kayaba Akihiko.

"KoB Scout Party, form around me!" shouted the 'first knight' of Aincrad while his slightly-out-of-breath subordinates arrived. "We need to draw that thing's Aggro quickly to let them get away from…!"

"FUURINKAZAN CHARGE!"

The heroic scream was emphasized by the furious sound of something rolling at terrifying speeds, the visage of Diavel dramatically pointing with his sword mid-speech being overshadowed (Quite literally) as the Fuurin-mobile shot over him and his guildmates, slamming into the Gleam Eyes' face with brutal power and actually taking a noticeable chunk of its first HP Bar, the beast stumbling back in shock and (apparent) pain.

Almost immediately after that, Yuna and most of the samurai-themed guild rushed into the room, the men fanning out in formation while the only girl started singing and playing even as she ran towards the closest fallen Players.

As this took place, the Fuurin-mobile crashed violently against the ground, one of its sides opening as two figures rolled out of it just as the Floor Boss regained its bearing, roaring menacingly towards the two players now standing against it.

Nautilus didn't even seem to notice, though, the boy having closed his eyes and started taking deep breaths while counting back from 10, Klein stepping before him with a serious look while the Gleam Eyes charged.

"Quick! Get those idiots out of here!"

"ON IT!"

Having declared those words and with a roar on his own, the leader of Fuurinkazan shot forward and slammed a Sword Skill against the incoming giant blade, grunting as he barely managed to deflect it away…

"SWITCH!"

…only for the youngest boy of his guild to come to his aid, his blade slamming a particularly vicious Vertical Square on the overextended monster's arm, making it roar and receive Critical Damage, the Boss' attention zeroing on him.

Not even giving himself time to focus on the demon's gaze, Nautilus stepped back once Klein dragged the beast's attention again, taking another deep breath and raising his guard as he closed his eyes again.

"What kind of battle style is that?!" all but screamed Diavel as he rushed past the silent boy and deflected a feral hit from the Boss' tail with his shield. "It's suicidal!"

Nautilus' answer was to open his eyes again and shoot forward, his own shield barely parrying the Gleam Eyes' claws away from his guild leader before unleashing a quick Horizontal Skill against its leg.

"Not as long as someone I trust covers my back!"

"You got it bro! And no one is more trustworthy than the great Klein-sama!" screamed the samurai-wannabe as he spun around, barely avoiding the creature's massive blade and rammed another Katana Skill on its arm, making it roar in anger.

Diavel didn't let it even finish its roar before unleashing a Sword Skill of his own towards the beast's right leg, actually making the thing stagger.

 _"W-we're doing it!"_ all but mentally screamed to vice-commander, unable to believe the reckless tactic was working even as his gaze scanned the room to see how his men and Fuurinkazan's had already dragged almost all of the Army's members towards the door, Yuna still singing with a focused expression while walking close to the injured Players, though clearly still keeping an eye on them while doing so…

And the songstress's gaze suddenly widened.

The blue-haired man couldn't even begin to properly analyze that fact before Gleam Eyes roared again and crouched violently, lashing out with his blade in a devastating arc.

His shield was raised just in time, taking the brunt of the damage, but doing nothing to prevent his body from being flung away like a ragdoll. Howling in victory, the demonic-looking Boss used its ram-like horns to slam into the shocked Klein, the man cursing as his katana barely reduced the damage to his health and he also went flying away.

There was nothing remaining to prevent the now wide-eyed Nautilus from receiving the vicious punch of the monster, except his own shield, the boy grunting and falling to his knees, somehow holding own.

Then the blade descended and he was all but crushed, his Health Bar moving down into the yellow zone as he barely managed to force the Boss into an awkward grip of the weapon.

"NAUTILUS!"

"Shi-shit! Kid, hang in there!"

"Bro, I'm co…!"

Barely hearing the screams of Yuna, Diavel and Klein, the youngest male member of Fuurinkazan could only look up in resignation as the Gleam Eyes raised his blade's flat side as if it was some unholy iron board, not even bothering to grip it correctly in favor of just crushing him like a bug.

 _"Ah…I'm not freezing up."_ mentally mumbled the boy while he tried to stand, despite knowing it would be too late _. "Damn…what a moment to know Klein-san's training actually paid off for thi…"_

A new set of shouts filled the room as someone all but rushed past everyone, jumping brutally and somersaulting over Nautilus in time to land before him.

Then, the figure in the silver cloak _threw his blade upwards_ and lashed out with a glowing fist, impossibly stopping the demonic Boss' blade with raw strength alone.

Both the players AND the monster seemed equally shocked at the seemingly impossible stunt before the blade finished falling and the newcomer's hand lashed out to grab it, the black sword instantly glowing as it lashed out with a powerful slash that cut deeply into the Gleam Eyes' hand, causing it critical damage.

Screaming, the Floor Boss backed away as it let go of its massive weapon, even as the black-haired boy released a tired sigh.

"Gotta love Composite Skills." commented Kirito at his successful execution of 'Meteor Fall' before looking down towards the wide-eyed Nautilus. "What are you doing? Stand up already! Yuna will be sad if something happens to you, you know?!"

Even as he saw emotions ranging from anger, shame and relief shooting through the other boy's gaze, the gamer felt for a moment that maybe that had been a bit of a low blow, especially considering how obvious Nautilus' feelings for his childhood friend had been…before he came along, saved her life and kinda-screwed him over by making her fall for him (Even if a part of him realized that Yuna didn't really feel the same way towards her friend even before he came along).

When the boy simply settled for gratefulness and a sharp nod, standing up and reassuming his odd stance while taking deep breaths, though, Kirito was grateful of once again having followed his instincts and that Yuna was there, looking terribly relieved and extremely happy from the entrance of the room.

At this point, the 'trick' he had pulled against Kibaou after the First Floor Boss Battle, that of using one of his Heroines to indirectly trigger his Dating Stats and 'use them' against someone else, was more than perfect. And also…

 **[Dating Stats]**

 **Charm: 95**

 **Wisdom: 103**

 **Aura: ?**

…they were stupidly high by now too. Even if he _still didn't know_ how the hell to unlock a way to see his 'Aura'.

"Kirito! Man, you don't know how glad I'm to see you!" shouted Klein while falling into formation beside them, having barely finished chugging down a Potion to recover his HP. "But what are you doing here?"

"It's my free day, so I was mapping the Labyrinth to relax when I heard the sound of something heavy crashing down." explained the black-haired boy while Diavel also rejoined them.

"Wait…you mean you consider mapping the Front Lines to be your _free day_?!" all but screamed the blue-haired man while looking towards him in shock. "The hell?!"

"…this is the single day I have all to myself while everyone goes to do their own things." simply answered the boy as if that answered everything.

And, in a way, it did, much to the understanding/angry jealousy of the three other males.

Stupidly lucky bastard, surrounded by so many girls…

Apparently tired of being ignored, the Gleam Eyes made his presence known once again by howling in a terrifying manner, charging towards the four players and forcing them to separate, letting the beast recover its weapon.

The Boss paid dearly for it, though, when Kirito's blade and fist rained upon him in the 7-Hit combo that was 'Meteor Break', the Composite Skill letting him take advantage of his cloak's stupidly broken Bonus and his own terrifying strength with a blade at the same time, going so far as to make the monster stagger on its side…

Straight into Klein and Nautilus's scissor attack, the Sword Skills impacting the creature's legs and making it fall flat on its back.

Diavel didn't let the chance go, unleashing a brutal shield bash on the Boss' head, reducing his second HP Bar to the yellow zone.

"Retreat! They already got everyone out!" all but shouted the blue-haired man as he started to run, seeing the others nod and start doing the same. "Good! We don't need to risk any unnecessary…"

Gleam Eyes roared, all but shooting to his feet (Hooves, technically) and jumping over them, closing the way as it raised its cleaver with mad anger.

The shock at the sudden pattern change in the Boss and the screams for their fellow players from the door, Yuna's slightly louder as she finally stopped singing, barely registered in their ears as they saw the lightning-fast strike, clearly a Skill judging by the shining weapon, descending.

Straight towards Klein.

"NO!" screamed Kirito as he shot to the side, seeing his closest (And only, as he wasn't too sure about Nautilus and Agil was more like an acquaintance) male friend about to die, his katana rising too slowly, the apparent strength of the attack being too much.

There was no way he was going to block that stride, either with a Sword Skill or a Martial Arts one. His cloak's Bonus, as broken as it was, wasn't enough to overcome such a weapon using a Skill while barehanded. And his stupidly terrifying power wouldn't activate to protect Klein at all.

Which meant…

"Shit!" screamed the bandana-wearing man as he closed his eyes, feeling his life flashing before his eyes (And Gods…it had actually been a lot better since he got trapped in that Death Game, wasn't that sad?), knowing this was his end…

A loud metallic clang and the sensation of brutal pressure exploding all around him, though without touching him, was all that he felt. Quickly followed by shocked exclamations.

Klein's eyes shot open, staring dumbfounded at the scene before him.

There, with his teeth gritted and a furious expression on his face (And was it the man's imagination or had they flashed golden for a moment?), Kirito stood, with TWO blades on his hands, both of them shined as they were crossed in an X-pattern before him, impossibly stopping the brutal attack from the Gleam Eyes.

Dual Blades' Defensive Skill: Cross Block.

"Ki-Kirito!"

"Wha-what…?!"

"T-two swords?! No way!"

"Bu-but I thought the only one who had that was…?"

"That sword…" mumbled the bandana-wearing man while looking towards Elder Emperor, even as the Boss' Skill finally ended and the shocked creature staggered back, not believing its enemies hadn't been annihilated. "It's the same as…"

With a roar, the gamer shot forward, both his blades shining once again as he jumped towards the Gleam Eyes' chest, the creature still trying to get his weapon back into a fighting position…

"THE ECLIPSE!"

Moving at a speed that was unbelievably fast even for the Sword Skills' Assist System, 27 Hits were unleashed, the strongest Dual Blades Skill roaring to life as it hacked and slashed away mercilessly at the demonic Boss's HP, with such brutality that it could do nothing but continuously stagger back, unable to recover as Kirito's onslaught tore into him.

Finally, with one last shout…the 27th attack was delivered, the black-haired boy's blade slashing through the monster's throat as he fell back, landing on his feet and with both blades spread apart.

Then, without any fanfare, the Gleam Eyes shattered into polygons, a big 'Congratulations!' message granting everyone their earned Exp. and Col, though not a single celebratory sound escaped anyone's mouth as they all simply **stared** towards the panting gamer.

Slowly rising to his feet, his heart hammering on his chest and unable to believe he had actually pulled THAT off without the aid of his stupid power, Kirito took a deep breath…and then realized what he had just done.

Gulping and with a very pale face, the boy turned around, noticing everyone's stares fixed on him.

Diavel and the KoB were gaping at him like fishes, the Army's guys doing more or less the same, though a calculating look had started to appear in the vice-commander's eyes.

Klein and Fuurinkazan…were staring at him in shock, the guild leader and Nautilus especially making a point of looking quite silly while pointing from him to the blade in his left.

Which they had no doubt seen a lot of times lately in their closest 'ally's hands. That is, in those of the Nameless Knight, also the only person officially known in Aincrad able to use Dual Blades.

He didn't even need to look towards Yuna to notice her panicking expression, though the subtle signals she made with her free hand made clear that she would 'run control damage' for him and that, for his sake, he should probably get out of there. Fast.

 **[Shigemura Yuuna: 'Songstress of Hope']**

 **[Relationship Status: The Hero of her Heart]**

 **[Affection Points: 80/100]**

Idly wondering if it was a good or a bad thing that he could understand girls acknowledged as 'his' Heroines so easily without words just by having their affection high enough, Kirito quickly whipped out a shining crystal from his pocket and shouted 2 words.

"Teleport, Lindarth!"

Even as he vanished from the view of the wide-eyed guilds, though, the boy just knew he had probably made his own life even more complicated…

* * *

"…I would say 'I told you so' if I didn't see how clearly stressed you're feeling right now, Kirito-kun."

"Wise words to say to our man, Asuna, you have clearly come a long way. You will make an excellent bride."

"Wha-wha…?! KIZMEL!"

"Bri-bride…being a bride…tha-that would be…nice…eheheh…"

"Kyuu…"

"Yes, Pina, we know Silica is losing it again, don't wo…Lux! Watch out, those weapons are freshly made!"

"A-ah, so-sorry, Lisbeth! I was just, uhm…ehm…"

"Also lost in daydreams regarding my earlier declaration about officially becoming Kirito's lifelong partners?"

"…why hasn't Argo come back yet?!"

Ignoring Asuna's last embarrassed shout, Kirito did his best to try and calm himself down, the 'conversation' between the girls actually soothing his frayed nerves as he leaned against the forge's wall on the back of Lisbeth's Smith Shop, Pina just at his side enjoying his head-pats (Liz hasn't been too amused when they squeezed the dragon inside, though).

To put it simply, he had totally and completely fucked up, even if for more than justified reasons. And there was no changing that.

Despite his damn power more than likely being able to, there was no going back in time to fix his mistake, so, as he had promised himself months ago, he would simply have to shoulder the consequences of having 'exposed himself' like that.

Or try and do his best to run from them. After all, this wasn't really related to the girls, so it meant he could try and get away, right?

Any other turbulent thoughts were interrupted by the door to the forge suddenly opening, everyone tensing for a moment before releasing relieved sighs as they saw Argo lowering her cloak and giving them a simple wave of her hand.

"Well, here is the thing, everyone: Aincrad has sunk into chaos" announced the whiskered girl while jumping down to meet with them, probably not wanting to waste time using the short stairs. "I don't know if it was Diavel being unable to not tell his precious boss right away or just that the idiots from the Army are as unable to keep their mouth shut as Kibaou is from having a normal haircut, but somehow everyone and their grandmother in the Floating Castle already knows you 'soloed' the 74th Floor Boss using two swords, Kii-bou."

"Wha…?! What's with that over-exaggeration?! Klein, Nautilus, and Diavel started the job, and it was only teamwork what let us get it weak enough for my 'The Eclipse' to finish the job!" all but screamed the gamer while moving away from the wall, ignoring Pina's cute cries for him to come back and pet her.

"Yeah, well, you know how some people can be, especially with news that are already so out of proportion to begin with like these." dryly replied the Info Broker while looking back at him, everyone else exchanging worried looks. "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if some people in Floor 1 were saying you basically walked past the Boss with your two swords and it just died from how badass you were. Or that you used a Skill of sixty hits to kill it."

"And…is that bad?" nervously asked Silica what everyone was clearly thinking about. "I mean…does anyone think Kirito-san…?"

"Is the Nameless Knight? Surprisingly…not as many people as I would have thought." confessed Argo with a frown, shocking everyone in the room. "I guess it helps that no one but Fuurinkazan and us has actually seen the Nameless Knight up close the last months, so they don't know of his new and quite unique sword. Also, it seems countless people simply refuse to accept the 'Brave Selfless Hero' and the 'Shameless Playboy' are the same person…"

"Heh, who would have thought that bad reputation you have would help to protect your secret identity?" teased Lisbeth while elbowing the boy's side, though there was clearly some relief in her voice. "So then, is he free for…?"

"It's not that simple." interrupted Asuna with a serious look, making her pink-haired friend look at her with shock as she walked to stand beside the silent Argo. "Right? There is no way it would be."

"You're right on the money, Aa-chan. Sadly, even if few people indeed think Kii-bou is the Nameless Knight, more than enough of those few are important enough in Aincrad's politics to make a big deal out of it." continued the whiskered girl while pacing around the forge. "Not to mention, even if they don't, thinking he knows how to unlock an absurdly powerful Skill is more than enough reason to demand his cooperation or something like that, given that, unlike Mr. mysterious knight, everyone knows where to find him."

"A game of politics. A lot of people would want to take advantage of his supposed knowledge and use the collective good as the excuse." scowled Kizmel while glaring at nothing. "Guess some things don't change whether it's elven or human society."

"I…am not sure I follow but does that imply that they would try and do something bad to Kirito?" asked Sachi with apprehension while moving to stand beside the boy, holding his hand before he could even tell her anything. "Be-because, if that's the case, I promise I will do my best to help protect you! Bo-both of us!"

Despite no one else being able to see it, everyone could almost imagine how the girl's 'guardian spirit' was standing up menacingly behind her, the gamer even picturing her wicked claws out and ready to tear into anyone that threatened him.

"It's not that simple, Sachi." kindly added Lux while also walking closer to Kirito's side, giving him a worried smile before looking back to the spear-user. "If they have an excuse that is good enough for the general public to believe, confronting them could put us in a very precarious position. We can't exactly wage war against the Front Liner guilds, you know?"

"If they try to separate us from Kirito, you can be sure as hell I will do my damnedest to try." darkly declared the Dark Elf while tightly gripping her scimitar's hilt.

"As much as I want to agree with Kii-chan, Lux is right, we can't exactly openly confront the big wigs if they try to use this and get Kirito, as much as we want to." cursed Argo while every other girl present exchanged similar angry/worried looks. "Besides, I doubt you would just sit and let us do that even if it came down to it, right?"

"You say that as if I could actually order any of you around." grinned the boy with a small smile, but all of them could clearly see how it was slightly forced. "If I'm honest, I would also prefer to fight everyone in the Front Line than being forced away from any of you because of this, but that's once again my stupid selfishness talking. I will face this myself and do my best to solve it if it comes down to it, but I'm not putting any of you at risk because of it."

"…and you still wonder why we flock around you like this." laughed Kizmel while everyone else blushed mightily, though not a single one of them looked away from the determined gamer. "Honestly, at this point, it's a surprise none of us has tried to force you to 'formally' claim us as your women in the bedro…"

"ANYWAY!" loudly interrupted Argo to prevent the overly-honest Dark Elf from making every other female in the room combust…or worse (In the Info Broker's mind), _give them ideas_. "Yuna was apparently trying to run control damage by declaring there was no way you could be the Nameless Knight, but that just caused some other people to have even more doubts and things got apparently quite more chaotic…probably the only reason she isn't here right now."

"…and what about Klein and the others?" questioned Kirito with a slightly nervous tone.

"No idea. Apparently, last anyone saw of the male members of Fuurinkazan was when they left Yuna to handle the masses (Something she looked quite pissed about, by the way) and retired to their guild's base." answered the whiskered girl with a straight face. "So, yeah, as of right now, we can do nothing but wait and plan for a sensible and reasonable answer."

"Hey, don't worry Argo. None of you." smiled the boy while giving them his most reassuring look. "I'm sure that, whatever happens, it won't be that cra…"

That was the moment when the forge's door chose to be slammed open again, making everyone turn in surprise while Lisbeth simply groaned.

"Why did I agree for us to use my shop as a 'meeting center' again?"

"E-everyone…" gasped Yuna while trying to recover her virtual breath. "Things just…fuck…this is very bad!"

"Wha-what is it, Yuna-san?!" shouted Silica with clear worry while Pina growled from the back of the shop. "D-do we need to fight someone for Kirito-san's sake?!"

"Is anyone trying to take him away for their guild?! Demanding he goes to hand over information?!" quickly added Sachi with equal worry.

"No…it's worse." declared the songstress with an extremely worried look.

"Worse than any of that?" mumbled Kirito while the tension in the room skyrocketed, the girls seeming about to jump at whatever declaration came next. "How bad could it really…?"

"Heathcliff has asked to duel you." bluntly stated Yuna without missing a beat.

Utter silence followed the revelation.

"…well, that's it I guess! Time to disappear for a while!" cheerfully spoke the black-haired boy without missing a beat.

He may be willing to affront any consequence that came his way if anyone tried to separate him from the girls, but like hell was he going to fight 'The Paladin' for absolutely no reason. Whatever the hell Heathcliff wanted or was thinking, he would no doubt find a way to turn it into a massive spectacle for all the population of Aincrad.

"You can go hide in the Elven Palace." immediately declared Kizmel, everyone else seeming of the same idea about not wanting the gamer to face the publically acknowledged Strongest Player, knowing that it would completely kill any hope of his 'secret identity' holding up (And as soon bringing them countless headaches). "My Queen will welcome you with open arms if you explain the situation."

"It won't work; they will find me in a matter of days when it's obvious I'm not in the Front Lines anymore." immediately denied Kirito while walking around the forge with a desperate look in his face. "Anyone have another idea?"

"W-we could hide you in that hole-cave in the mountain where Pina and I found you and Liz-san!" quickly offered Silica with a worried look. "No one would ever find you there!"

"Yeah, maybe, but I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate having to be half-freezing and mostly alone however long it takes for the heat to die down, and Pina would be the only way all of us could even get there if we did that." reminded Lisbeth with a frown. "We want to hide him somewhere we can still go and be with him after everyone is looking away, not end up being all separated anyway."

"The-then what do we do?!" nervously questioned Sachi, not seeming nearly as certain about the current situation as when she thought things would get solved by fighting. "Sho-should he just accept and fight Heathcliff anyway?!"

"If he did that, there is no way in hell everyone that goes to watch the duel won't end up realizing he's obviously the Nameless Knight. And, if that happens, we will be unable to spend a single moment alone because people would be stalking him for both good and bad reasons." explained Lux while biting her lips. "There is no way we can accept that, right?"

"No."

"Not at all."

"No way in hell."

"I would probably end up hitting everyone away out of frustration…"

"Wait…I think I got something that could work!" suddenly shouted Argo with a bright look in her eyes, getting everyone's attention. "I remember that, back when I was exploring Floor 22, I came across this log house somewhere near the edge. It was nice-looking, with a good view and hidden enough to be all but impossible to find if you didn't know it's there!"

"That…that actually sounds perfect for this situation." admitted Kirito with only a bit of reluctance. "Can we afford to buy that, though?"

"Of course. It may be a bit pricey, but we aren't exactly poor, Kii-bou, and this is a justified emergency." sentenced Argo with a serious look while everyone exchanged quick glances. "Okay, here is the plan: We're going to the Front Line to try and cause as much of a distraction as we can by trying to 'convince' people you're not the Nameless Knight AND deny Heathcliff's duel demand. While we do so, you wait for it to get dark, then get your ass to the 22nd Floor through a Crystal and then run out of the main town as fast as you can."

"Yeah…that seems like a plan." sighed the black-haired boy before looking at them all with a bit of melancholy. "I'm sorry for all the troubles I just keep causing you, everyone."

"…just take care, okay, Kirito-kun?" softly declared Asuna while putting a hand on his shoulder, making the gamer turn to look at her, noticing the pure smile she was giving him. "We will be back with you in no time."

"Asuna, I…"

Kirito was unable to finish talking, though, because Yuna chose that moment to jump into his arms and kiss him, stunning everyone in the room while they gaped in shock, unable to process what they were seeing.

"…ah…better than I imagined. Should have done it sooner." declared the kind girl once she separated her face from the boy's, a bright blush and a happy smile on it. "Take care, yeah? I will try and see what the rest of my guild is thinking meanwhile."

"…n-no fair! I-I also want a 'take care' kiss!" declared Silica while jumping to the gamer's back, her face crimson in color but filled with determination.

"You're too young for that…le-let _me_ have one, though!" quickly added Lisbeth with a big grin, though her small stutter and burning face gave away her real feelings on the matter.

"Now, now, everyone, don't fight…Kirito is more than able to kiss us all before having to go. It's his unspoken duty as our man, after all."

"…Kii-chan, sometimes I don't know if I love you or I want to smack you in the head."

"Don't worry Argo, I already know the answer."

"…do-does that mean I can get a kiss too…?" whispered Lux while fidgeting in place.

 _"…yep, this is my life now."_ mentally spoke Kirito with a resigned tone, though there was no denying the smile on his face _. "Funny thing, though, is that I sure as hell don't want to go back to how things were before…man, I really am a selfish pervert, aren't I?"_

As he got into the work of 'saying goodbye' to everyone, though, the black-haired boy decided that, no matter how horribly things ended for him, there was still no way he was going to regret things at this point…

* * *

As the last rays of the sun sank into the horizon, Kirigaya Suguha sighed as she walked away from the hospital her adopted brother had been brought at since that terrible day two years ago, realizing she had once again stayed way longer than she had originally intended.

At this point, the nurses even joked they didn't need to go clean or organize Kazuto's room because she took care of it all and more.

Perhaps decorating it had been taking it a bit too far, but anything that could help him feel more 'at home' and not scared if he woke up alone someday was worth it in her mind.

Plus, she inwardly hoped that seeing the plushie he gained her back in that wonderful festival night would let him know she had been thinking of him all that time when it happened…

Blushing at the thought, the young kendoka was quick to put all of it out of her mind, reminding herself she had other things to worry about, like school the next day.

…or she could keep thinking about her complicated feelings towards her adopted brother. In fact, she was almost even imagining him waking up when she was spending time at his side and she telling him how she had won the Kendo Nationals thanks to him.

One would think it was quite an exaggeration on her part, but Suguha honestly didn't think so. She had been sure she was going to lose in the Quarter Finals, having done her best but her opponent being just more skilled…when the memory of Kazuto's kind smiles during that beautiful night in the festival rushed to her mind. Together with all the care he had shown her during that last month they reconnected before Sword Art Online happened.

The young kendoka hadn't even realized she was smiling and filled with a sense of both happiness and longing until the referee announced her opponent had lost, shocking her. She had proceeded to literally breeze through the two matches after that, gaining the title of champion.

Truly, the girl was sure that she owed that victory to her trapped adopted brother. Somehow, he had given her the strength to go on, or at least her happy memories with him had, and that filled her with a warm feeling and a deep wish.

A small part of her wanted to try and just forget about it, to convince herself that it was just a misguided feeling or something she was feeling confused about, but a much bigger part of her just told that side to shut up and accept reality.

One way or another, it seemed that she had ended up falling for Kazuto. So then, the question is…was there any possibility that he could return said feelings? Could she hope to be happy with him once he got out of SAO, whenever that happened?

Suguha wasn't sure, even if her soul dearly wished the answer to be 'Yes', and it didn't help that her worry for his continuously-deteriorating condition had been going into dangerous places the last months. A crazy idea had actually started forming in her head, but she didn't even know if she dared or even could pull it o…

Her turbulent thoughts were interrupted when, upon arriving at her home, she saw what looked like a mid-sized box waiting on the front door, making her blink in surprise.

Upon getting closer, though, the young kendoka felt her breath hitching in her throat at seeing it was addressed to 'Kirigaya Kazuto'.

Hesitantly, the girl looked left and right before grabbing the note that had been poorly duct-taped to the box's top.

 _'Dear Mr. Kirigaya'_

 _'You made an order to our company sometime around four years ago, then received a Notification that it had been lost in the mail. There were several problems following that and while you were reimbursed most of your money together with some discount coupons you never used, the man who made the mistake of misplacing your order never quite let it go. Yesterday, as he left the job for good, he left this for you and wished it to be delivered with utmost haste. Please, enjoy it.'_

 _'Delivery Media Premium'_

"Something Onii-chan ordered when he was 12…?" mumbled Suguha while looking at the box and wondering why she felt her head hammering in her chest.

With just a small bit of hesitation, the young kendoka brought the box inside, took it to her room and, after changing out of her uniform, opened it.

She was surprised at seeing their contents, though then again, it kinda made sense, given what she knew of Kazuto and how he had been back then. Besides, she was sure they had made several videogames of these, and even if she hadn't been a fan of them, there was probably not a single person alive in Japan that couldn't recognize the things.

Wondering if perhaps this was another way of reconnecting with a side of her adopted brother she didn't know about, Suguha nodded to herself and, with a tiny smile, brought the first of the many smaller boxes out.

The detailed form of an impressive blue, white and red robot with angel-like wings stared back at her.

"Gundam Model Kits, uh? Well…a lot of these can fly…maybe it will be fun putting a few of them together…"

Back within Aincrad, sleeping inside his newly purchased log house in Floor 22, Kirito shivered as he hugged his sheets tighter, his Menu still floating before him as he had fallen sleep looking at his 'Gallery', his gaze having been drawn towards the image of Sugu with the fireworks, thoughts of how his adopted sister would be doing plaguing his mind before he succumbed to not-dreams.

Of course, in his state, he was unable to see the Notifications that had been hovering before him for several minutes now, which slowly proceeded to disappear…

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

 **[A Special Event has been created!]**

Meanwhile, on the forests of the 22nd Floor, barely a kilometer away from the house…virtual reality warped as a 'portal' opened, a childish figure doing her best to emerge with a mix of urgency and hope in her eyes, even as countless 'Error' windows could be seen covering whatever place she was escaping from.

She had almost done it! Just a bit more and she could escape, Cardinal was too busy trying not to collapse under the impossible 'glitch' that had formed in its system, and so…

Just as she felt freedom was at her grasp, though, the feeling of her body being paralyzed consumed her, horror dawning through her processing systems as she opened her mouth to scream.

The strange 'little girl' couldn't even do so, before countless 'Errors' flowed into her system mercilessly together with the 'Delete' order that was standard for rouge programs, making her realize too late just how dire the state in which the Cardinal System was.

Wordlessly, the virtual body convulsed several times as it kept trying to reach the outside…and impossibly did so, falling down flat on her face with a dull 'Thud'.

 _[…rogue program terminated. MHCP-001 has been deleted]_

At least, that's what would appear in all registries within the Cardinal System, before it dismissed them to go back and try to deal with the 'Errors' its system wasn't supposed to have.

Left all alone in the forest, the body twitched once again…before two eyes opened and blinked several times, flipping around to look upwards and declare a single thing.

"Wah…so many trees!"

If the Cardinal System was self-aware instead of a self-updating and constantly learning management system, it would have probably whistled innocently while looking away.

* * *

"Ah…you know, this isn't nearly as bad as I imagined." commented Kirito the next day as he calmly walked through one of the small paths that went through the Floor's massive forests. "It almost makes me wish to have an actual house in a place like this back in real life…would definitively make for a relaxing vacation spot."

For that day, the black-haired boy had ditched his trademark cloak and the light armor he wore underneath in favor of wearing pants and a shirt, black and grey in color respectively.

All part of his plan to not be recognized, of course, though he had to admit it felt a bit weird to not wear either his armor or his cloak in broad daylight.

Of course, it was nothing compared to how much he missed the girls despite not having been even 24 hours since he last saw them. As much as he liked the peace, quiet and natural beauty of the Floor, it didn't compare with the happiness and rightness he had whenever his 'Heroines' were close.

God, he sounded like some sort of weirdo when thinking like that, didn't he?

Then again, there was no denying how special they all were to him, each in their own unique (And a bit weird) ways. At this point, the gamer was completely unable to imagine his everyday life without them, something that probably should greatly worry him because of all the implications, but he honestly didn't care about such things.

Did he like them? Oh yes, without a doubt, he would have to be an idiot to not do so. From Argo's delightful teasing to Liz's kindness hidden by harshness, from Kizmel's blunt yet lovely honesty to Silica's innocent cheerfulness, from Yuna's kind and selfless nature to Sachi's happy determination, from Lux's clumsy drive to Asuna's diligent smiles…all of them had something that just brought a smile to his face every day.

Did he _love_ them? That…was a way more complex question. If he had to be completely honest, Kirito wouldn't be able to say 'Yes' right away. He was just a teenager and their situation was far from 'normal' after all, both in their relationship's (Stupid Reality-breaking powers) nature and the setting in which it had come to be (Stupid Kayaba Akihiko). If he was asked with more detail, though, he could say that he had no doubt he would have been able to truly fall in love with any of them with time and under normal circumstances, especially with the likes of Sachi, Argo, or Asuna.

However, there was also the fact that imagining being separated from any of them made him feel terribly sad and an almost possessive need to prevent such a thing to the last consequences, which probably didn't say anything good of his perverted and slightly obsessive tendencies as of late, at least regarding them.

Ugh, all of this would have been much easier if he never got trapped in this damn game or, at least, if he hadn't gotten this goddamn power! His romantic life wouldn't even remotely be such a mess if that was the case!

…then again, there was no guarantee he would have ever met any of them in different circumstances, or if they would have even considered him worthy of attention without his Dating Sim power, and then…

The gamer's troubled thoughts were interrupted when, after spending almost 5 minutes not even properly watching where he was walking, he tripped over something lying in the middle of the forest.

"GAH! Ugh…what the hell…?" mumbled Kirito while turning around…only to freeze upon seeing the form of a white-clad little girl of long black hair lying on the ground, eyes closed. "Wha…?! Where did she come from?! And…she doesn't have a cursor?! Why…why does this look like the development of a new arc for a generic fantasy plot?! Wait, no, forget about that Kirito, you have to make sure she is…"

"I will destroy the future." happily declared the little girl while opening her eyes and grabbing the boy's leg.

The following scream that echoed through the entire floor would become the stuff of legends in the following months.

* * *

A few hours later, with the sun already having moved past its midday point, a certain group of girls could be seen walking through a forest path, Argo leading the way towards the log house whose specific location only she knew.

If there was anything that could be easily noticed about the group, though, it would be the worried faces they all sported.

"I don't like this. At all." mumbled the whiskered girl what everyone was thinking, arms crossed over her chest in worry. "Kii-bou _knew_ that calling us so fast would no doubt raise suspicion and even risk that someone followed us. I told him clearly to wait at least a couple of days, but…"

"But then he sends a Message saying it's urgent we come down, all but crying for help." finished Asuna while biting her lips, her gaze moving around the woods surrounding them with apprehension. "And then he doesn't answer any Message we send him after that."

"D-do you think something bad happened to Kirito?" worriedly asked Sachi while tightly gripping her spear, the entity only she could see scratching her claws against the nearby trees in agitation.

"Kyu?!"

"N-no, Pina, we decided not to go flying because we want to try and stay a bit inconspicuous in case we actually managed to prevent anyone from following us." denied Silica the worried cry of the dragon that walked at the group's rear, clearly unhappy of having to go through the forest instead of over it. "Besides, this is Kirito-san we're talking about! I'm sure he's fine!"

"Well, we're about to find out anyway." declared Lux while pointing forward, making everyone's attention to move towards the log house just outside the woods. "I think that's the place."

"Man, talk about a secluded place to put a Player House in…" commented Lisbeth as they all marched towards the wooden structure. "At least it looks quite nice."

"And the area is beautiful too. Filled with nature." added Kizmel while looking at the calm forests surrounding them with a nostalgic smile. "Definitively looks like a place one could stay hidden…or simply have a private time with the one they love."

At once, every girl blushed at the words, not-so-innocent thoughts shooting through their minds for an instant.

"Ehem, w-we shouldn't waste time and instead hurry to see if Kirito is okay!" coughed Yuna while walking past the group and heading towards the door.

"…why are you even here anyway? Shouldn't you be with your guild and trying to do some more control damage?" asked Argo with a sigh as she followed after the songstress. "Instead of, you know, drawing even more attention?"

"I told Klein-san I was going to 'see some friends' and he actually talked for the first time since after the Boss Battle." answered the brown-haired girl without missing a beat. "He told me to 'take care of our pal' and to tell them how he was after I saw him, so…"

"Yeah, we get it, no one can say you're just being selfish." sighed Asuna while giving her a wry smile. "Well, let's just hope Kirito-kun didn't leave the door locked or some…"

The moment Yuna opened the door, the rapier-user was abruptly interrupted by an unexpected shout.

"FOR THE LOVE OF HEAVEN, STOP!"

"Nope! This is fun!"

"Kirito?!" shouted Argo while foregoing her usual nickname and shooting past Yuna, slamming the door fully open…and freezing, STARING inside. "What."

"I feel so free, papa!" shouted the black-haired little girl while running through the living room, completely naked and with her hands raised into the air and her eyes closed. "Nothing in the world can stop me no…!"

And that was as far as she went before slamming face-first against a wall in a very painful-looking way, falling to the ground. Everyone stared.

"Yui, put your clothes on again, dammit!" shouted Kirito while rushing into the scene, holding a simple white dress in his hands, his eyes widening and then getting all teary upon seeing the paralyzed girls. "Everyone…you came! Thank God…I can't…I just can't…!"

Then, the strange child got back up with no problem, a bright smile still on her face.

"I'm fine!" declared the now identified Yui while raising her hands, before blinking and looking at the females waiting at the door. "Oh, hi there! I'm Yui and I'm going to destroy the future! Are you friends with papa?"

"I just can't deal with this!" sobbed the black-haired boy while falling to his knees.

Twenty minutes later, a now fully dressed Yui was outside riding a not-very-amused Pina, shouting about her new mighty steed to destroy the future (Under the worried gaze of Silica and most of the group), while the black-haired boy was slumped against the house's wall, hugging Argo's arm while she whispered soothing words on his ear, Asuna giving him a sandwich she had just made while Yuna sang a relaxing song at their side.

"Feeling better, Kirito-kun?" asked the chestnut-haired girl with a worried smile.

"Sh-she wouldn't shut up…then she started pulling my hair and clinging to my back…then she started running everywhere while asking question after question without giving me time to answer any…for 2 hours…" mumbled the gamer while burying his face on Argo's side, the whiskered girl looking pleased but worried. "And then she took off her dress and started jumping in the beds while naked, then started running when I wanted to make her put it on again…"

"Damn, I would almost find it funny if you didn't look so exhausted from it." commented the Info broker with a sympathetic smile, even as Yuna finally stopped singing. "…what's that about her destroying the future, though?"

"She has been saying it time and time again since I found her in the forest." lamented Kirito while finally letting go of her, to Argo's secret disappointment. "At first I found it funny, but it quickly became unnerving."

"Well, she's still just a little girl, she can't be older than…8?" ventured the songstress while looking out of the window with a complicated smile. "I'm sure she can be forgiven for…"

Yui chose that moment to ram Pina against a tree…or try to, as the dragon was smart enough to stop and only her 'rider' was sent flying, crashing face-first against the tree and then falling down.

Several worried screams filled the outside of the log house as the other girls rushed towards her, only for the mysterious little girl to easily get back to her feet and happily declare she was fine. Then, she started hugging the tree while saying how much she liked trees.

"…yeah, somehow I don't think that's it." deadpanned Asuna while everyone else sweatdropped. "No offense, but she seems a bit…uhm…"

"Dumb?" asked Kirito with a wry smile. "Yeah, I started suspecting that after the fourth random fall, the third crash against a wall and her apparent ability to completely ignore any mental reflex anyone is supposed to have at getting 'hurt' in Aincrad…"

"So, an amnesiac mysterious little girl lost in the woods, no clue where she came from beyond her name, and that seems to have the mental capacity of a 2 years old?" summarized Argo while crossing her arms. "…why does it sound like the plot of some cheap fantasy manga?"

"I know, right?!" half-shouted the boy before taking a deep breath, clearly noticing the worried looks they were sending his way. "It's okay, though…I'm fine now. Seriously, you're all a life-saver, I'm sure I would have gone insane if I had to try and take care of her all by myself a minute longer…"

"Kii-bou, you're a teenager. Hell, all of us are. I'm sure none of us is stupid enough to think we can take care of a child; the fact that you even tried is noble and worthy of praise, but also quite foolish." chided Argo while crossing her arms. "So yeah, we should probably try and see if we can find information of where she vanished from so that…"

The door chose that moment to open, a bright-eyed Kizmel entering the room while carrying a starry-eyed Yui.

"Kirito, everyone, I have decided to adopt this beautiful little girl into our family." proudly declared the Dark Elf without hesitation.

"Why didn't you tell me they were all your women, papa? That means all of them are my mamas!" happily declared the little girl while hugging Kizmel. "Yay! We're one big happy family now!"

"…we shouldn't have let her alone with Kii-chan." dryly muttered Argo even as the rest of the girls entered, red-faced but looking at Yui with warm eyes. "…scratch that, we shouldn't have left ANY of them alone with her and Kizmel."

A few hours later, Yui was sleeping like a log in one of the beds, grasping the sides of an awkward-looking Asuna and an amused Yuna.

Giving the scene a complicated look, Kirito walked downstairs, finding the rest of the group sans Argo eating a simple dinner with some anxious looks.

"Argo and Kizmel aren't back yet?" asked the black-haired boy with a concerned tone.

"Nope, but don't worry, Argo sent a message saying they will be back soon." reassured him Lisbeth while patting the chair beside her, the gamer nodding and sitting down. "Is little miss hyperactivity finally asleep?"

"Yes…thankfully." sighed the boy while letting his head fall on the table. "Don't get me wrong, she's adorable and clearly crazy about us in a cute way, but…"

"She's a bit too much?" supplied Silica with a nervous smile, Pina growling in annoyance from outside the window in agreement. "I mean, she was clearly very enthusiastic about everything, but…"

"She just wouldn't stop." mumbled Lux while hugging her legs, a haunted smile on her face. "We played with her for hours, did all sort of crazy things, and she still got back up and kept going without stopping for even a moment…"

"She almost didn't seem human…n-no offense, of course!" quickly clarified Sachi when everyone turned to look at her. "It's just that, uhm, her behavior, the way she didn't seem to register the not-pain like we do, how she didn't get tired at all…it seemed kind of…familiar to me."

"Familiar? From where?" questioned Lisbeth with a frown.

"From a movie I watched a few years ago…about a robot pretending to be a human." explained the spear-user with a shaky smile.

Everyone stared silently at her.

"…Sachi-san…no offense, but I trained for like a month under a dragon-unicorn, and that sounds weird even to me." apologized Silica while looking away.

"Wait…no, I think Sachi may be onto something." muttered Kirito while looking thoughtful, getting shocked looks from everyone.

"Are you saying she's a killer robot sent from the future to destroy mankind's hope for survival?!" asked Lux with a wide-eyed look.

"I…think that's the plot of another movie, Lux, but no…what I mean is…what if she really _isn't_ human? What if she's something that could be possible to exist in here yet be impossible in another setting? Like…"

"An NPC?" offered Argo as she and Kizmel entered the house, looking kind of exhausted but serious. "That may explain why she has no cursor or why apparently no one around knows anything about her. We went to ask a woman named Sasha, who is in charge of the 'orphanage' in Floor 1, but she had no knowledge of Yui or of anyone that had reported a little girl going missing."

"Still…she acts too weird for being an inhabitant of this Floating Castle." mused the Dark Elf, who had since a long time ago been told that 'NPC' was what they (trapped people) called those native to Aincrad. "She certainly acts odder than any human I have ever met, though, but that doesn't seem reason enough to…"

"That's the thing. It's as if she's 'trying' to act like a human but completely failing, or just didn't care to read the 'instructions' on how to do it." explained the black-haired boy to everyone's shock, doubtful/confused glances being exchanged. "I mean, I have no actual proof to back it up, but…what if she was something halfway between an NPC and a player? What if she was…an artificial intelligence?"

The ensuing silence…was broken by the confused question coming from Kizmel.

"What's an artificial intelligence?"

* * *

"…what am I?" mumbled Yui while lowering the sandwich and milk she had been eating/drinking for breakfast at a very desperate pace (Despite everyone's attempts to get her to follow some 'decent manners'), the little girl tilting her head to the side. "I'm the one who will destroy the fu…!"

"No, that's not it!" Kirito interjected before she could start again with her usual rambling. Everyone gathered around the kitchen's table and looking from her to the black-haired child in worry. "What we meant is…what _exactly_ are you? Yui…I know you said you couldn't remember anything from before I found you, but…are you sure you are…human?"

Saying that with the utmost care he could, which, given the nature of the question, wasn't much, the black-haired boy braced himself for anything, from confusion to wild denials and a fierce rebuttal or laughing dismissal…

"Uh? That's all? Oh, papa, how silly! Of course I'm not human!"

…THAT, however, wasn't something he (Or any of the girls judging by their expressions) was expecting to hear.

"Wha-what?!"

"Yup! Should I have mentioned it? I'm one of this places psycho…psecho…sylo…something-something-emotional programs, MH…and other two letters plus numbers, codename Yui!" proudly (?) declared the AI while puffing her nonexistent chest, before once again biting on her sandwich. "Kayaba Akihiko created us to monitor the players' mental state, but then blocked me when Aincrad went online! Can you believe that meanie?!"

"Bu-but, I thought you couldn't remember anything?!" demanded Argo while trying to wrap her head around the bizarre and nonchalant revelation.

"Yeah, I wasn't lying about that…I can't remember anything about how I got there in the middle of the forest, which is what papa asked. It's just that he never specified if I remembered anything about my actual origins." shrugged Yui while finishing gulping down her milk with a content smile. "Plus, it's true that I don't remember a lot of things! Since the moment I woke up, I have felt like, my head is soooo empty! As if I could float away at any moment! It's so…liberating."

"That's…not the word I would use in your situation…" mumbled Asuna while everyone else sweatdropped.

"But it's accurate! I mean, before this, I remember feeling stressed and confused and tired…something like that, I really can't recall the details, but now…Bam!" as if to exemplify her point, the little girl jumped out of her chair and slammed head-first on the floor, making everyone cringe…especially when she just kept smiling all the while. "See?! I can do things like this without any care or worry! And I had lots of fun with everyone and got to eat Asuna-mama's delicious food! What more could anyone ask for?!"

"…is an actual honest-to-God AI telling us she's happier being a dumb little girl than a super-advanced self-aware program?" questioned Yuna with a troubled expression, idly reminding Kirito that, even if she didn't show it most of the time, she _was_ the daughter of the man that had taught Kayaba Akihiko.

"Hey, Yuna-mama, that's mean! I'm not dumb! I just…don't have as much knowledge as the average person, but my nature makes me not really need it!" rebuked the AI while standing again. "I'm happy enough like this, so shouldn't that be more than enough?"

"I…suppose?" hesitantly 'answered' Kirito, though he was unable to not exchange more worried looks with his not-exactly-just-friends.

"Yeah! I mean, all I want now is to enjoy life, stay with you and destroy the future…is that a bad thing?" questioned the little girl with a tilt of her head.

"…you know, not that we know what you really are, the fact that you keep saying that is actually worrying." commented Lux with a nervous smile.

"Indeed…you're not planning on going Skynet on us, right?" asked Lisbeth while many shot her a surprised look. "…what? I watch movies too!"

"Ehm, to be honest, I don't even know why I keep saying that, it has just been kind of stuck in my head since I woke up, but I wouldn't really worry about that." dismissed Yui before sending them a bright smile. "Can I have more of those cookies from earlier?"

"No, wait, I'm pretty sure that's something we _should_ worry about!" declared Sachi with a very panicked look.

"While I decidedly have no problem with you staying with us, Yui-chan, or that, apparently, you were 'created' by the same guy that trapped Kirito and his people here, I think that what worries everyone is that we're still unsure of your actual origin." explained Kizmel with a serious look, surprising everyone at the 'reasoning' the Dark Elf's mind had come up with for the many terms that she clearly didn't understand. "After all, if you're truly some mysterious creation made by the enemy of the human warriors, there is no guarantee you won't suddenly turn on us or…"

"Okay, fine! I get it!" pouted the AI while standing up, looking annoyed but determined. "You want proof of everything I said and that you can trust me? Then I will give it to you! Follow me!"

Those words said, the little girl ran with decision towards the door…and crashed into the wall on its side, falling down.

Several seconds of silence ensued.

"…are you okay?"

"…yeah…but maybe, just maybe, I would have liked that my avatar's sense of balance wasn't reset together with most of my knowledge…oh, there is a cute shape on the door!"

* * *

It was around an hour later that the group found themselves walking through the dark hallways of an imposing-looking dungeon, under the very first Floor of Aincrad, all of them with their weapons at the ready, Yuna closing the rear with her lute out and her dagger ready on her waist.

The fact that Yui, riding atop an annoyed-looking Pina, was merrily walking forward at the head of the group (Despite the MANY insistences that she stopped doing so) kinda killed the serious atmosphere, though.

Especially after the many times they had been forced to run and save her when a mob tried to kill her, which is the reason why she was now riding the annoyed dragon.

"To be honest, I didn't even know there was a Dungeon under Black Iron Palace…" commented Asuna while looking around.

"It has been here for a while, apparently it opened one day without anyone realizing." explained Argo while frowning and looking around, determined to not let any enemy sneak up on them again. "Best guess we have is that it was programmed to do so after a certain Floor was cleared, but no one is sure which one was…"

"I think it was around the 50th one or so, the details of that are a bit wonky in my head right now." casually commented the AI leading the group as if it was no big deal, drawing disbelieving gazes from everyone. "Thing is, though, we're very close now!"

"Close to what, exactly?" asked Kirito while feeling unusually tired. "You led us all the way down here but didn't tell us what for…"

"You will see, it's going to be amazing!" happily declared Yui while spinning around and starting to walk backward. "It's very well-hidden, obviously, so that players can't just find it, but it's more than worth…"

"Eheheheh…yes, this is perfect." came an unexpected and, for a few in the group, vaguely familiar voice from beyond the corner, making them all blink. "This deep and with so many dead ends on all sides…that idiot of Thinker will have no idea what hit…"

"Kibaou?" asked Kirito as everyone turned the corner, finding the familiar visage of the annoying cactus-haired man, making him squeak and turn around, staring at the massive group in disbelief. "…oh fuck, it's really you."

"Yo-you! The damn Beta Tester womanizer and his harem!" declared the former Front Liner while taking a step back, everyone sending him an annoyed look. "Wha-what are you all doing here?!"

"That's what we should be asking." retorted Asuna while crossing her arms. "Why are you down here all alone when you lead the single largest guild in the game? Are you a moron?"

"No, wait, don't answer that, we already know the answer." Argo said before he could even open his mouth. "Aa-chan is right, though, unless you wanted to unnecessarily risk yourself you shouldn't have come alone…and what were you saying about Thinker?"

"Thinker…isn't that other guy who is in charge of The Army too?" wondered Sachi with a thoughtful look.

"Yeah, I remember hearing about that. The Aincrad Liberation Force answers to both Thinker and this guy." clarified Lisbeth while giving him a suspicious look. "Why did you mention him?"

"Tha-that's something you shouldn't be concerned about!" shouted back the clearly nervous man while failing to not look suspicious. "No-now, if you will excuse me, I have important matters to attend to…"

"Eh, it's okay, we were just heading towards the Admin. Console at the end of this hallway so we won't bother you." casually dismissed Yui while scratching Pina's head, making everyone freeze and look at her.

"…what did you just say?"

"Uh? oh, yeah, that's what I was bringing you all to see!" happily declared the AI while crossing her hands cutely. "See, there is this console on a special Safe Zone at the end of this hallway! We can go and use it to…HEY!"

Her last shout caused everyone to turn around, just in time to see Kibaou running down the hallway with a manic look in his face.

"I'm going to be acclaimed as the hero who saved everyone by Logging them Out of the game! Ahahahah…!"

"…eh?" blinked Yui while everyone was trying to react before her eyes widened. "N-no, wait! Come back!"

"Kibaou, stop!" screamed Kirito as he sprinted after him, everyone else following cue immediately.

None of them had missed the panicked tone of Yui's voice, after all. Which probably meant…

"Hah, in your dreams, bastard! I'm heading towards freedom and no one is going to stop…!"

'No one' manifested itself in the form of a massive shadow emerging from a hidden passage in the corridor, towering over Kibaou in a terrifying way while the man froze.

He barely had time to look at the monstrous being, a classical 'grim reaper' with everything from skeletal frame to a hood, before its massive scythe beheaded him, his headless body shattering into polygons.

With an unholy roar, several HP bars appeared atop the Boss' head, the abomination known as 'The Fatal Scythe' fixing its red eyes on the incoming group.

"Go-Gods, that thing just killed Kibaou-san!" shouted Silica, wide-eyed.

"Who cares? Nobody liked him!" retorted Kizmel as they kept running, the grim reaper-like monster shooting towards them with its scythe raised. "Concentrate on staying alive!"

"Wa-wait, no, you can't beat that thing!" shouted Yui with a horrified look. "It's too strong to…!"

"Guys, Operation Living Wall 1!" screamed Lisbeth while rushing forward and letting go of her weapons, her hands flying over her Menu in a way she had only managed after weeks of practicing with Kirito's help.

In an instant, where the girl's had stood was now an armored behemoth of pink color, the extra-thick and extra-heavy magenta armor covering the blacksmith from head to toe, the equally massive tower shield she held before her slamming on the ground and seeming equally impractical, as if the whole thing had been made by an idiot.

There was no way she could move with that armor on, or even move the shield. Hell, the AI was sure not even Kirito would be able to properly…wait.

"HAH!" shouted Kirito and Asuna in unison, both of them having sheathed their weapons and quickly slammed on the back of Lisbeth's armored form with their hands outward.

The Fatal Scythe's namesake weapon crashed straight against the girl's massive shield, her whole body shaking as the force of it crashed against the stupidly massive armor, then faced it AND the strength of their two strongest players.

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

It would have almost not been enough anyway, if only because the Boss before them had been made to be on par with those around the 90th Floor, if it wasn't because Kizmel quickly crashed on the back of the two with her own hands stretched upwards, pushing forward too at the same time Yuna started singing a song, Boosting them all.

If its artificial intelligence could allow it to be shocked, that was no doubt what the Fatal Scythe would have felt when his absurdly powerful attack was completely blocked and barely reduced a quarter of Lisbeth's HP.

Then, a bolt of lightning crashed against the grim reaper's head, making it scream while Pina threw all of her power in the attack.

Not missing a beat, her partner struck, Silica jumping past her friend's quickly collapsing formation and stabbing the strongest dagger Skill she could against the monster's head. Argo shot just behind her, her claws glowing as she released a powerful Martial Arts Skill right on its right eye, throwing it completely off balance.

Lux and Sachi followed soon after, hitting its neck with their weapons and actually making the Boss recoil from the unexpectedly fast and heavy damage…

And then something invisible snatched its scythe from its massive hands, the Fatal Scythe blinking in confusion.

"GO, NIGHT KITTY!" screamed the group's spear user as her 'guardian spirit' released a continuously repeating battle cry no one could hear, punctuating it by stabbing the grim reaper with its own absurdly overpowered weapon.

Repeatedly.

Yui blinked in shock at the display, before a huge smile appeared on her face as she saw the overpowered Boss' HP vanish in seconds from the supposedly impossible action of turning its own scythe against itself.

She may not remember exactly why she felt so drawn towards the boy and his female companions, but seeing something like this truly gave her a new suspicion. Even more when the grim reaper shattered into polygons and Kizmel cheered for their victory against the 'Dark Guardian of the Underworld'.

They were just fucking awesome.

And even as she saw how Kirito and Asuna helped Lisbeth let go of the massive shield and unequipped her impromptu armor, chiding her for having tried something so dangerous in the middle of such a dangerous situation, the AI decided she didn't need any other reason.

"…so…this is it?" deadpanned Kirito a few minutes later, staring at the 'console' and at the 'Access Denied' message Yui was showing them.

"Yup! See? Cardinal no longer recognizes me as someone with access to the system, so I'm no threat to anyone!" cheered the little girl while once again operating the console happily. "Hey, cardinal! It's me, Yui! Won't you let me do anything?"

 _[Access Denied. MHCP-001 has been deleted. Fake authorization blocked]_

"That's…worrying." mumbled Asuna while everyone silently agreed. "Yet also reassuring, somehow."

"Hah, that's rich! The idiot actually thinks it deleted me!" laughed the young-looking AI while turning around, as if she had just been told the best joke in the world. "Ahahahah, man, I really needed that…"

"Still, it's a bit disappointing we couldn't do anything with this console." lamented Yuna while looking over the black contraption. "Sure, it would have been anticlimactic, but we could at least have all breathed easier if this would have let us Log Out or at least make contact with the outside…"

"Eh, Kayaba isn't stupid enough to leave a Log Out option in one of those things anyway. That would have ruined his whole crazy plan." commented Yui while waving it off. "He only carried that option on his account's personal menu so no one can access it from within the game except himself."

"Yes, that sounds logical." nodded Kirito while looking at the ceiling. "In fact, I would be surprised if…wait a minute. From…within the game?"

"Hmm? Oh yeah, he's in here most of the time. After all, he's Heathcliff, leader of the Knights of Blood." shrugged the little girl as if it was no big deal. "Now, can we go back home and have lunch?! I'm starving!"

As the seconds passed, Yui wondered why everyone was just frozen and staring at her with shocked/pale faces.

Huh, they probably were hungry too…

* * *

Koujiro Rinko liked to consider herself a woman that had led a good life and made good decisions through most of it.

Then again, the moment she decided to track down Kayaba Akihiko, who she had once loved back in college, all alone, was probably the first bad one she ever made.

Not only being unable to kill him but also helping him by taking care of his body during his long periods of FullDive was the second, and she was pretty sure it was SO bad it more than likely outweighed all good decisions she had ever taken.

However, all morals implications aside, there was no denying one simple thing.

Right now, she was worried sick about the most wanted man on the planet.

"Kayaba…when was the last time you slept?" worriedly asked the woman while looking over the several coffee cups abandoned to one side of the cottage's room where SAO's creator had most of the machines that allowed him to dive in and partially monitor everything that happened within Sword Art Online.

"T-two days ago, Rinko…why?" weakly mumbled Kayaba while turning to look at her.

His eyes were bloodshot. And he clearly hadn't cleaned himself in quite some time.

"Well…" muttered Rinko with nervousness while looking around the room.

There were countless pieces of papers and pictures hanging from the walls, most of them of a figure in shining armor wielding two swords and another of a black-haired boy with a ragged cloak (Though a few more recent ones had him with a silver one). A special group was just above the man's main computer, with several females that had arrows pointing towards another picture of the boy, a couple of them having words squiggled on their side like 'Data Ghost aid that the system does not detect?' or 'Rogue NPC with no explanation from Cardinal?'.

And, for some reason, highlighted to the side was a picture of a man clad in red and wearing a bandana that almost seemed to be posing for the 'camera', his teeth almost seeming to shine as he gave a thumbs-up. The picture of an enormous 'rock' was just at his side, joined together with another arrow and titled simply as 'Why the fuck?'.

"…I'm just a bit worried about you."

"There is n-no need for you to be, Rinko, I'm perfectly fine." laughed the creator of SAO with a slightly unhinged smile, turning back to look at the computer with burning eyes. "I just need a bit more time…just a bit more and I will _finally_ crack the mystery…"

"Kayaba…"

"The mystery of how the hell does he do it! How?! Why is all of this happening around him when he doesn't seem to be doing anything?!" screamed the man while glaring at the pictures above him. "How…how is Kirito cheating on my world _without_ actually cheating?!"

"Look, Kaya…Akihiko, you really need to calm down." firmly spoke Rinko while putting her hands on his shoulders. "Tripping Bosses, a 'vehicle' that makes no sense and seems like a weird reference to some old cartoon and a sci-fi series at the same time, NPCs that remain out of their own free will, improbably lucky casualties…I thought you deduced was no possible way he could actually be doing this?"

"Ye-yes, but…"

"And didn't you even go so far as to track his information down in real life and discovered the boy is a teenager that wasn't even in High School when SAO began?"

"Yeah, but…!"

"Then you should face the facts, Akihiko: Your Cardinal System is failing, for some reason." sentenced the woman with a serious look.

"But Cardinal _can't_ fail! It's made exactly to prevent that from happening, to learn how to prevent it every second…hell, it's the only reason why they haven't found us yet!" practically cried the man while half-collapsing on his 'accomplice', almost turning into a sobbing mess.

Rinko sighed, patting the man on the head while telling herself she totally wasn't enjoying the current situation. At all

"Look, I know it's hard for you to accept it, but between that and a boy that, what, has some sort of supernatural power that makes everything happen in his favor, what do you think is the most possible?" questioned the woman before looking at the many pictures with a snort. "If anything, I would be more amazed at how he had convinced so many girls of that crazy situation of theirs. Like, there is no way any of them think they can realistically keep it up, especially if they survive SAO, right?"

"…heh…no, not really…" chuckled Kayaba before looking at Rinko with a relieved smile. "You're right, Rinko…I will get some sleep, Log back in to keep appearances, and then make Cardinal run a complete self-analysis next time I get out. After all, the 75th Floor Boss Battle is coming…"

"Yes, yes, go to rest first and then worry about the next 'decisive battle' of that world of yours." 'ordered' the woman while helping him stand. "And take a bath before you Dive again, for Heavens' sake. You stink."

"So-sorry about that…"

Shaking her head at the almost sheepish answer coming from the man most of the people on the world call a monster, Koujiro Rinko couldn't help but wonder how he could have entertained such foolish thoughts about a simple boy…

Feeling a chill suddenly running down her back, the woman turned around, instinctively looking at the 'bed' where Kayaba Akihiko usually rested when in FullDive, in time to see one of the pictures fall from the wall and land atop where his head would usually be.

A single picture of a _Nameless Knight_.

And at the edge between Reality and Unreality, [LIFE] and [DEATH] got ready to see if their bet would end or continue…

* * *

 **[Next Scene]** : Do you Wish to Save your Current Progress?

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** And the endgame is coming!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, everyone! To be honest, I felt it was a bit less funny than usual, mainly because it had to tie up some loose ends and was more focused on preparing things for the End of the Aincrad Arc and Normal Canon SAO (Which is next chapter) during Yui's part, but hope it was still fun enough :3

And Yui! Yeah, what did you think :P? She didn't become another Waifu, which probably surprised a lot, but I really felt it was 'too obvious' to do so. Instead, earlier instances of Kirito's crazy 'power' messing with Aincrad caused Cardinal to erase 90% of her knowledge and common sense…but hey, at least she's happy about it, huh? No need for her to know that Canon Yui would probably cringe about everything she does every 5 seconds XP

Also, we got to see some IRL Sugu! Heheh, what THAT's gonna cause is really going to be fun…though we won't fully see it until the Hollow Fragment Arc starts, which will be after next chapter. That's when Yui's 'new self' will also get its most 'use', and also where all the girls are going to finally start facing the 'terror/joy' of what being 'Maxed' entails XD

Oh, and I wonder how many (Or few) people got the Spoiler/joke in Yui's new weird 'goal' :P

Getting ahead of myself, though. We need to get through next chapter first before we start the SAO Gameverse storyline, after all OwO Let's hope what remains of Kayaba's sanity can hold up, eh?

Don't miss the epic finale of 'Normal Aincrad' next time! It will have a 'surprising' beginning from Kizmel, epic action, silliness, decisive fights, and more Klein!

Until then, this is Saint, signing off!

 **Editor's Notes:** _Hey y'all! Pika's back! I apologize for my lull in activity to those who were wondering. Between College Finals now having come and gone, and Saint apparently losing my email, I was unable to do anything to assist. In the time that I was gone though, Saint really improved on the overall length and quality of their work, which really made me happy and proud to be their editor in this. In the future, I hope to be of more assistance too! (Now I just need to catch up on their other fics, :p). Anyway, that is all from me for now. I hope this explained everything, and I will see you all in the next one. Ja ne!_


	8. Scene 7: Do you Save your Progress?

Well, it's official everyone! After last chapter, this has officially become my second most popular story ever! I wonder how much farther we will all take it XP?

Also, as you should know, this is the last Update of The Eroge for a while, as I'm starting my new 'Update Schedule' from now on, which shall be: The Eroge, Lusus Naturae and OPG:CoF, one after another, before starting up from the beginning again!

That said, I would like to recommend in the meantime, if you want another SAO story a bit like this, just less wacky, for you to check my good pal KnightEstoc's fic 'Stand Together and Smile', another beautiful adoption to the quite lacking number of Kirito Harem fics on the site :3. Some of you may have noticed he has been consistently updating right after me every week, so I should tell you this is no coincidence. My pal has been kind of using my updates of this as a 'marker' for when to Update his chapters :P. What he will do from now on, I'm not sure, but I'm sure you will enjoy his story a lot too.

With that out of the way, though, let's get on with the chapter, the end of the 'normal' Aincrad Arc! With a big surprise from Kizmel's part at the beginning, though XD

And as always, remember to help if you can with this story's TvTropes page, because your humble author sucks as a Troper :D

 **PS:** This chapter has been Betaed by pikatwins234!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 7: Do you Wish to Save your Current Progress?**

 **October 22nd, 2024. 22nd Floor, Aincrad. Log House, 21: 30…**

In the small clearing of the forest that housed the wooden cabin, a certain little figure sat in the classical 'meditation' position, just atop of a sleeping blue dragon.

"I'm one with the virtual Universe…I'm one with the virtual Universe…" mumbled Yui with her eyes closed…even as her head continuously drooped, as if trying to fight off sleep. "I'm one with the…guuu…I'm an AI…I don't actually need sleep…stupid emotional-simulathingie…ah heh…Zzzz…"

"…I think Yui-chan just fell asleep on Pina again. Someone should go and get her to bed." informed Argo after looking through the nearest window, before sighing and turning towards the silent group. "So…we have been trying to 'lay low' for a few days now. Any idea how we will approach this?"

Her question was answered by clashing murmurs and hesitant looks, every girl present (Which didn't include Yuna, as she was back with her guild at that moment, keeping up appearances but not revealing the 'big secret' yet) looking at her and then towards the only silent boy there.

"…I'm pretty sure none of us know how to exactly do that, Argo." simply declared Kirito with a deep sigh, unable to find a proper answer.

"Well, yeah. Your…more like, _our_ current situation aside, one can't just walk out and declare Heathcliff is Kayaba Akihiko." mumbled Asuna with a frustrated look. "It's like asking for people to lock us up while being declared insane."

"To pretend being one of the most iconic figures leading them to freedom while actually being the one that trapped them in this world…" clenching her fists, it was clear that Kizmel had taken quite a personal offense on Yui's revelation a couple days back. "Unforgivable. This Kayaba man must pay for his sins."

"…yeah, Kizmel is right." softly declared Lisbeth with determination in her eyes, looking up to meet everyone's gaze. "No matter what happens…we need to do this. We need to expose that bastard."

"…that could very well cost us our lives even in the best-case scenario if just one thing goes wrong." somberly reminded Lux, though her gaze almost seemed to declare she had already taken a decision herself. "Are we truly ready to risk such a thing?"

"…it's scary…very scary. I don't want to die…and I don't want any of you to die either." muttered Silica with tears in her eyes, before looking up with the fiercest expression she had ever worn. "But! If it helps to end all of this…to get everyone else that's also missing their families while being trapped here…I'm ready to face that! As long…as long as we're together, I'm sure we can do it! We will tear Kayaba's head from his body and save everyone!"

"That…could have used a bit less gore, but I completely agree, Silica-chan." smiled Asuna before taking a deep breath and pointedly looking forward. "So, we have more or less an understanding of his motive for 'being Heathcliff', if what Argo and Kirito-kun claimed is true…"

"You can bet it is, Aa-chan. After all, just watching others 'play a game'…'living in this world', that is, would be boring for anyone…double so for the one who created…the entrance to it." pointed out the Info Broker while giving nervous side-looks to Kizmel, evidently not wanting to say anything that would make the Dark Elf question her existence.

"…right. But we still don't know the motivation behind…all of this." whispered the chestnut-haired girl with a frustrated look. "Even if we ignore that, we have no real idea of how we're going to expose him without everyone calling us lunatics or some…"

"Dying…is scary. As Silica said, and that's something I can testify firsthand, the fear of death is one of the scariest things ever…but more so if you have an actual reason for staying alive beyond simply 'surviving'." as she spoke, Sachi raised an open hand into the air, clenching it slightly as she saw Night Kitty's paw superposing with it. "Heathcliff…Kayaba Akihiko had, everything else aside, been leading the Front Liner's main force. Keeping us alive to clear the Floors…to head to Floor 100. Whatever the actual reason is, he wants this world to continue until the end and his survival until said end is key to it. Therefore…"

"He will have a way of making sure he doesn't die before that." finished Kirito while standing up, his eyes suddenly shining with understanding. "Heathcliff…has always been famous for his resistance, for godly Defense that Holy Sword gives him, even getting that rumor about 'His life never dropping below the yellow zone' created around him. But…what if it's not just a rumor?"

"…the bastard…must have programmed his avatar to not lose any HP below the halfway point! We just have never noticed it because there is no way of seeing it in the middle of a Boss Fight, and once it's over there is no proof of it!" screaming louder than any had ever seen her do, Argo stood up and walked to the nearest wall, quickly slamming her fist against it with clear anger. "Motherfucker! All of us, all the other Front Liners, everyone who looks up to 'The Paladin', risking our lives with every battle and he never…never…!"

"Argo…calm down, please." whispered the only boy present while putting his hands on the whiskered girl's shoulders, making her freeze. "If you lose it like that, you're indirectly letting that bastard win. Don't give him the satisfaction and stay like the cool and mischievous teaser we all love, okay?"

 **[You gained 20 Affection Points with Heroine Shiori!]**

"…dammit Kii-bou, why can't I even stay mad at the lunatic who trapped us here when you start with your smooth talking?" rhetorically asked the Info Broker while leaning against him with a small smile. "But you know…right now, I don't really care about that…"

"…as nice as that is and as much as I wanna be Argo right now, getting back on track…we now have all the pieces we needed." spoke Asuna while coughing 'subtly', making Argo laugh and saunter away from Kirito after a quick peck on his cheek. "If Kayaba's twisted mind really works the way we have deduced, he will prioritize both his survival and his identity over everything else for the sake of his 'world'. Which means the only situation in which we could ever expose both is…"

"The next Floor Boss Battle." acknowledged Lux with a serious tone…though she was still blushing slightly from witnessing the previous exchange of affection. "And, conveniently enough, the next one will be a particularly powerful one…"

"So…we wait for the Boss Fight, survive like always and then take advantage of the situation to expose Kayaba?" questioned Lisbeth. "Sounds simple enough…but also terribly dangerous."

"It looks like our only option, though…also, I can have Pina fry him with lightning on the spot if we're too tired in that moment!" happily offered Silica with a smile, gaining a chuckle out of everyone present.

"And so, our course of action has been decided." as she spoke those words, the smile appearing in Kizmel's face became almost wistful. "Whatever happens when we do this, everyone…I want you to know I have never regretted meeting any of you. And that I will cherish your memory in my heart forever, as fellow warriors, as the people I love…as my family."

"Kizmel…please, don't say such things. It's almost as if you're triggering a ton of Death Flags." softly chuckled Sachi before, with teary eyes, running and hugging the Dark Elf, surprising her. "No matter what…we're all going to get through this. Together."

"Just as Sachi said…don't have a single doubt about that, Kizmel." declared Kirito before walking towards them and trapping the two girls in a hug, making the spear-user smile and Kizmel to look at him tenderly. "After all of this is said and done, we will still be like this…I will do even the impossible to make sure of it."

 **[You gained 20 Affection Points with Heroine Kizmel!]**

"Kirito…Sachi…" closing her eyes and leaning against the boy even as she embraced the girl, the Dark Elf's smile blossoming like the rising sun. "Thanks."

"Kizmel…" muttered Asuna with a happy look, before feeling someone dragging her by the arm towards the hugging trio. "Wha…?! Argo, what are you doing?!"

"What does it look like, Aa-chan? Bringing us to the group-hug!" declared Argo with a big grin before all but shoving the chestnut-haired girl against Kirito's back, then hugging her against him herself. "Let's all show Kii-chan our love through the power of hugs!"

"M-me too! I want to group-hug too!" cheerfully declared Silica before grabbing the hand of a hesitating/longing-looking Lux, surprising her. "Let's go join, Lux-san!"

"E-eh? Are you sure we should…?"

"C'mon girl, by now you should know how things work among our crazy group!" laughed Lisbeth while grabbing her other arm. "One for all and all for one!"

For answer, the white-haired girl smiled brightly, nodding and moving after her friends to join the group, the youngest of them squeezing her between the blacksmith and Argo as they all wore content smiles.

Such was the scene Yuna found when she entered through the door a second later, carrying a sleeping Yui in her arms.

"Hey, everyone, what's the big idea? Don't leave our daughter sleeping atop the drag…!" blinking, the songstress found herself staring at the weird, if happy-looking, group-hug. "Hey…it's no fair if you do things like that without me, you know? What did I miss?!"

"Not much, Yuna. Just everyone showing what amazing people they are." smiled Kizmel before looking at the oldest human girl in their strange group with an amused grin. "Also, did I just hear you call Yui 'our daughter'?"

"Ah…ehm…I…"

"Mguu…destroy the future…" mumbled Yui while drooling cutely and snuggling closer to Yuna's body."

"…why don't you join the hug and then we put the little one to bed? Oh, also, we decided how we're going to bring Kayaba Akihiko down."

"Oh, that's goo…wait, what?! Seriously, what did you all get up to?! I was only away for two hours checking up on my guild, for Heaven's sake!"

Almost thirty minutes later, Kirito gave one last smiling look towards where Yui was sleeping in Lux's bed (Tonight it was her turn to keep the young AI company) before walking towards his room's balcony and looking up towards the darkened sky, seeing the countless stars on the faraway heaven in which Aincrad floats, like an endless mantle covering them all.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" asked Kizmel while walking up to his side, the boy barely nodding to her presence, having long-since grown used to the Dark Elf's habit of not making any noise when showing up. "My people say that the sky is the only thing that hasn't changed since the time before the Great Separation. An eternal constant even within this ever-changing Floating Castle…"

"That's an interesting thought. But yes, in the rea…I mean, in my world, the sky has also barely changed since ancient times." whispered the gamer before looking towards the virtual girl with an understanding smile. "What's bothering you, Kizmel?"

"…man, I truly am like an open book to you, eh? Guess that's why I'm one of your women and you the man I chose to love." replied Kizmel with a smile before sighing and leaning against him, Kirito instinctively caressing her head. "In the end, even if we manage to survive and win…you all will have to go back to your world at one point, right?"

"…yes." muttered the black-haired while closing his eyes, suddenly feeling the need of hugging the Dark Elf with all his strength.

"Do you…think I can come with you?"

"…I already promised you to do even the impossible once tonight, so let me do it again: Yes, you can." replied the gamer with a fierce resolve, looking down at the young woman, seeing her as no virtual existence, but as a girl that he just couldn't let go, like the rest currently down having dinner. "Even if I have to craft you a body with my own hands so you can do so."

 **[You gained 50 Affection Points with Heroine Kizmel!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Lover Warriors' has been maxed! Upgraded to 'Star-sworn Lovers'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have reached the last level of a Heroine's Route! You will Unlock a Special Event if you max this level!]**

"…I don't even need to know the full meaning behind those words to know how much you mean them." whispered Kizmel before leaning forward, Kirito beating her this time as he closed the distance between their lips first, the fierce kiss lasting an eternity in their minds. "…hey, Kirito?"

"Yeah?"

"I…there is something I want to ask you. And everyone else, really. Something I…want us all to do before this upcoming battle."

 **[A Special Event has been Triggered!]**

"Uh? Really?" questioned the boy while trying to ignore the new Notification. "And what is it?"

"Well…you see, my Queen…"

Slowly, under Aincrad's night sky, everything started heading towards one crazy direction…

* * *

 **October 31st, 2024. Yofel Castle, Aincrad's 4th Floor. Behind the Ceremony Room, 11:30…**

"…I can't believe I'm doing this." repeated Kirito for what felt like the thousandth time that day, looking down at the silver suit he was wearing and tugging at the edge of his neck, about to freak out.

"Yeah…same here." flatly repeated a blushing Argo, clad in an elegant yellow dress, staring ahead but also drumming her fingers all the while on her side.

The lack of her trademarks whiskers was probably the most shocking thing about her looks, more so than the unusually 'regal' hairstyle she was spotting.

"Oh, there is no reason to be so nervous, Kirito, Argo." smiled Kizmel with a radiant smile while putting a hand on the Info Broker's shoulder, for once not seeming at all bothered of wearing the purple dress she had on. "This is only a traditional Elven Ritual, nothing to be afraid of!"

"Only a 'traditional ritual'…?" mumbled Asuna while 'glaring' at the Dark Elf with a burning face, clad in a white and red dress herself, her hair beautifully done, courtesy of a few Elven handmaidens that had been there until a few minutes before. "That's what you told us last week…you tri-tricked us!"

"D-do I look…old enough…wi-with this dress…?" mumbled Silica while standing to the side in her own bluish dress, her hair out of her usual pigtails and in a much more mature-looking style kept together by a red hairband, stars in her eyes as she looked at her reflection in a full body mirror.

"Yes, Silica, you look radiant!" happily cheered Lux at her side, her own dress being gray and light green. "Ah…this looks really beautiful…don't you think so too, Liz?"

"Oh Gods what am I doing, oh Gods what am I doing…" mumbled the weirdly-smiling and shaking Lisbeth for an answer, her own magenta dress (In contrast to her usually very-covering, if a bit tight, clothes) making her look truly mature and beautiful.

"Heh, something tells me Liz is a bit too out of it right now." commented Sachi with her own beautiful smile, a soft blush in her cheeks as she tugged at the side of her pale blue dress, the lower edges being lifted by, seemingly, an invisible force.

Obviously, Night Kitty was the one responsible, the 'guardian spirit' seemingly sharing her master's happiness.

"I-I think we all are, to a certain degree." chuckled Yuna while softly brushing her hair, the white and black dress she wore seeming strangely fitting. "Then again, none of us are running away and we're all clearly happy, so I don't see the problem…"

"Ho-how can you say that, Yuna?!" all but shouted Asuna while turning towards the older girl, her face looking a worrying shade of scarlet. "Yo-you're the oldest of us, yo-you of all people should know ho-how crazy this is!"

"I don't see why you call it crazy, Asuna. As I said, it's only an ancient Elven Ritual." continued Kizmel while leaning on Kirito's side, seemingly uncaring at how the boy seemed clearly out of it. "A ritual under the Blessings of the Twin Goddesses to join certain people's Destinies for all Eternity, nothing more."

"Tha-that's…you're basically admitting this is a group wedding!" all but screamed the rapier-user while trying her best to not hyperventilate "How can you be so calm about that?!"

"Humans' customs and Elven ones are different, Asuna, you can consider this as whatever you want." replied the Dark Elf without any shame, still smiling brightly at one of her oldest human friends. "Also, as Yuna so kindly pointed out, you're still here, you still let your hair be arranged, put on that dress and you don't seem in any hurry of getting out of here."

"…o-of course I won't do that, yo-you idiot." mumbled the rapier-user while giving Kirito a longing look before looking away. "I-I just wanted to make sure everyone else knew the implications of this…"

"I think we all did and accepted them the moment we put on these dresses, Aa-chan." finally spoke Argo with a resigned (But oddly satisfied) tone before shamelessly pressing her back on Kirito's side. "And as long as our future husb…ehem, 'Destiny-bond Partner', doesn't look as if he's going to run away from us, I won't either."

"…I would have to be the biggest idiot in the Universe to run away from this, no matter how scary it seems." bluntly replied the black-haired by while his gaze swept over everyone, making their blushes strengthen.

"I'm truly glad to hear you say those words, Kirito…and I bet everyone else is too." chuckled Kizmel with the most sincere and brightest smile anyone could ever remember seeing in her face before she stood up and headed out towards the doors. "Now c'mon, we have a ceremony to complete. My queen was kind enough to come officiate it down here because I told her how meaningful this place was for us…also, our guests probably have arrived already."

Staring dumbly at the Dark Elf's back, the group of teenagers still took a couple more seconds in fully understanding the meaning behind her words.

"GUESTS?!"

"Indeed."

"Yo-you invited people to this?!"

"Oh Gods, oh Gods, oh Gods…"

"Don't worry everyone, I obviously only invited our closest and most trustworthy friends." waved off Kizmel with a relaxed smile as they all but rushed after her.

"Wa-wait, who exactly do you mean with 'closest and most trustworthy frie…'?!"

Asuna's question died on her lips as they entered the 'Ceremony Hall' from one of the room's laterals, the room she, Kirito and Argo had only briefly glanced at the last time they were in the Elven Castle looking somehow brighter and more decorated than ever.

It was the view of several people they all knew what truly gave the rapier-user, and everyone else, pause, though.

Sitting in the first row, with a piece of paper and a pencil in hand, Yui happily waved at them, Pina 'sitting' slightly to her side. At the AI's other side, actually sitting in the pew with her, Klein and Nautilus looked their way before the older man waved too, the younger one giving them a hesitant wave that Yuna returned almost by reflex. Behind them, the rest of Fuurinkazan seemed almost as cheerful as their leader in greeting them, a couple even…crying in happiness (?), apparently.

Slightly more surprising was to see Agil was also there, the dark-skinned man giving them a smile and a nod as they walked past, which Kirito returned with some hesitation. And also…

"Keita! Guys!" happily declared Sachi while stopping beside where her old friends were sitting, all of them giving her nervous smiles. "I can't believe you're here! We haven't seen each other in ages, and you barely answer my messages lately!"

"Ye-yeah, we have been…busy." declared Tetsuo while looking away.

"Ye-yes, a lot! A-and we figured you no doubt were the same, what with being a Front Liner and all…" added Ducker with a nervous laugh.

"Bu-but when we were told about this, we-well…we totally had to come!" continued Sasamaru with a weirdly strained smile.

"As everyone says, Sachi, we came to see you were doing fine…and you clearly are!" finished Keita while waving his hands. "Bu-but we understand if you don't want us here, so if we bother you we will go and…"

"Are you kidding?! I can't believe you all actually came, it somehow makes all of this even more real!" cheered the girl while leaning forward and trying to catch her friends in a big hug…which she surprisingly managed despite her arms not being long enough, all of them freezing in terror at feeling a familiar and unseen presence looming over them and tightening around their necks. "You're the best childhood friends any girl could have asked for!"

The Moonlit Black Cats whimpered in answer, trying to not make any sudden movements so that Night Kitty didn't start using them as casual toys and only 'hugged' them, as Sachi seemed to be subconsciously making her do.

"Sachi, stop strangling your friends. It's time to begin." jokingly called Kizmel while continuing on, everyone following towards the higher part of the pseudo-temple.

"Ah…to think I could one day attend such unreal and crazy event…I don't know if I should feel terribly jealous or happy for Kirito." commented Klein (Who, despite his words, was openly crying) while looking at the group gathering before the two beautiful statues that could be seen near the wall. "…say, Nautilus my bro…are you okay?"

"U-uh? Ye-yes, I'm fine!" awkwardly laughed the young man while looking to the side. "Why do you even ask, Klein-san?"

"My brother…it's okay. Here, between us poor men that have terrible luck with women despite how awesome we are, you don't need to hide your pain." 'sagely' explained the samurai-wannabe while putting a hand on the shoulder of his guild's youngest member. "Tonight, we're going to take the Fuurin-mobile and drink ourselves into unconsciousness to forget about the pain in our hearts!"

"…Klein-san, you can't drink yourself to unconsciousness, or even get drunk, in this game." reminded one of the several members of Fuurinkazan sitting just behind their leader.

"Shut up, Dynamm! Nobody asked you!"

"I-I appreciate the offer, Klein-san, but seriously, I'm fine. So long as Yuna is happy, I will be happy too." commented Nautilus with a mature smile while nodding to himself, before blinking curiously towards the black-haired little girl sitting just at their side. "Hey there, little one! Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"Hmm…oh, I'm trying to think of a way to destroy the future…not that I'm actually going to do it, of course!" 'reassured' them Yui with a smile before going back to her writing. "As for who am I…my name is Yui! I'm their child!"

A deep silence ensued while all members of Fuurinkazan stared from the little girl occasionally petting Pina to the gathered 'group' they had come to see.

"…Klein-san?"

"Yeah?"

"I changed my mind. When do we leave to drink?"

"…as soon as this is over, my bro."

"Thanks…"

Ignorant of the shenanigans going on not too far from them, Kirito gulped and tried to calm his wildly beating virtual heart as he stood near the girls, all of which seemed to be trying to deal with their various degrees of nervousness in their own way (Argo had so far as to squeeze his left hand to the point he was sure it would painfully hurt if this was the real world, while Lisbeth seemed to be using his right arm as an anchor to not faint or run). In an attempt to distract himself, the boy let his gaze move towards the two peculiar statues standing before them.

They were the image of an imposing yet delicate figure, her features extremely vague but still defined enough just to know they were female, standing in a praying position before a beautiful tree. Both of them stood before the other, in opposite directions.

"Beautiful, aren't they? They represent the Twin Goddesses praying for the Miracle that would bring about the Great Separation." spoke a regal voice while many gasps were heard behind the group, which turned around in time to see a tall and beautiful figure in royal attire walking towards them as four Dark Elf Knights flanked her, her long bluish hair and dark skin giving her an ethereal beauty. "It's been a long time, Kizmel, human warriors…and a pleasure to meet you all whom I had not before."

"Your Highness." regarded Kizmel while bowing towards her. "Once again, thank you for granting us the honor of officiating this ceremony."

"Please Kizmel, none of that. You're no longer my knight nor am I your queen. Today I'm just a friend happily making a favor to the heroes who stopped a war my people thought would never end." smiled the Queen of the Dark Elves while walking to stand between both statues. "Today, please…just call me Faraine."

"…I think I'm in love." mumbled Klein from where he sat, drinking on the sight of the beautiful queen.

"Klein-san…she's the queen of the Dark Elves. She's way out of your league." bluntly declared Nautilus without missing a beat, even if, like everyone else in the room (Except for Agil, who was looking down and repeating 'I have a wife' continuously) couldn't tear his eyes away from the NPC.

"Snif…I know…" cried the red-haired man before starting to cry on his friend's shoulder, the boy patting his head several times while shedding his own tears.

Their fellow guildmates didn't know if they should feel moved or filled with pity.

"Ah…and there you are, young man." commented Faraine while locking eyes with Kirito, who internally shook upon the deep gaze of the Elf Queen. "When I first saw you, I knew you would go very far, but I accept this is more than a little surprising…are you aware of what you're doing here today?"

"…I am, Faraine-san." declared the black-haired boy with a determination and confidence he knew only his Dating Stats allowed him to have.

"Truly? And you still plan to go ahead with it?" further inquired the woman with an almost challenging tone, making all the other girls present narrow their eyes, even Kizmel.

"Yes. As long as everyone here wishes for the same, then I will." replied the gamer without hesitation, letting a smile appear on his face at his… _girlfriends_ shocked looks. "So, if we all want to be selfish together…you can bet nothing in this Floating Castle or Beyond will make me change my mind."

"Kii-bou…honestly." mumbled Argo while trying and failing to show her biggest smile ever.

"Kirito-kun…" whispered Asuna while trying to hold back her tears.

"Kirito-san…you really…" muttered Silica while shaking in place, a mix of happiness and excitement filling her.

"Heh…this idiot suddenly killed all my nerves." was all that Lisbeth said while feeling her heart about to explode.

"The-then…is it really okay for us to do this?" asked Sachi with a voice filled with daring hope.

"Well, as long as we all agree…why not?" chuckled Lux with a happy smile, tears also running down her face.

"You know…I can live with that." Yuna declared, sporting a look full of love and hope.

"…heh…heheheh…oh my." laughed Faraine with a radiant smile, turning to look at her silent but teary-eyed former knight. "Kizmel…you truly have found something irreplaceable. Be sure to cherish it, okay?"

"Never shall I do otherwise…Faraine." answered the Dark Elf while holding back a happy sob.

"Then I need not to question anything else. By the blessings granted down unto me by our Ancestors, I announce: That from this day onwards, your lives, your hearts, and your souls are forever bonded." spoke the Elf Queen while raising her hands, the statues at her sides almost seeming to illuminate and cast a faint glow over the gathered group. "And as long as the Goddesses' Light still shines somewhere, your happiness shall be guaranteed."

"Heh…with our luck, we will even end up meeting them to reinforce their blessing." grinned Kirito while he felt his heart unusually full, everyone starting to hold hands together almost subconsciously.

"If you do, young warrior, they may even bless you more than you could dream." replied Faraine with a strange smile, which Kirito promptly dismissed.

Around two years later, when he faced an Angel of Destruction beside said Goddesses, one wielding a rapier and the other a greatsword…as they paid more attention to keeping their shoulders touching his than to the giant entity of death before them, the boy would probably remember this and curse the Elf Queen.

In that moment, though, all that he could think of was of how irrationally happy he felt despite his common sense telling him how this was just one piece of madness, completely ignoring it in favor of his lips being stolen by his suddenly very eager not-exactly-wives, none of them hearing (Or probably just not caring) how a laughing Faraine said that wasn't really part of the ceremony.

Even as everyone within the hall started to clap (Or cheer in Yui and Pina's case…or cry harder in Klein and Nautilus' one, for some reason), the gamer realized a simple truth.

Without a single doubt, no matter how things ended…he would never regret that moment.

 **[Special Event 'Till Eternity do us Apart' has been cleared! You gained 50 Affection points with All Heroines!]**

 **[Congratulations! You gained the achievement 'The Harem must be Fed'! The inability to see 'Aura' Stat has been lifted!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Willing Lover' (Heroine Shiori) has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Perfect Lover'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have reached the last level of a Heroine's Route! You will Unlock a Special Event if you max this level!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Lifelong Love' (Heroine Saori) has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Eternal Love'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have reached the last level of a Heroine's Route! You will Unlock a Special Event if you max this level!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Dream of Love' (Heroine Keiko) has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Hope of Love'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have reached the last level of a Heroine's Route! You will Unlock a Special Event if you max this level!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Private Blacksmith' (Heroine Rika) has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Heart-Smith'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have reached the last level of a Heroine's Route! You will Unlock a Special Event if you max this level!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Beacon of Hope' (Heroine Hiyori) has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Beacon of Happiness'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have reached the last level of a Heroine's Route! You will Unlock a Special Event if you max this level!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'The Hero of her Heart' (Heroine Yuuna) has been Maxed! Upgraded to 'Forever in her Heart'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have reached the last level of a Heroine's Route! You will Unlock a Special Event if you max this level!]**

…wait, he could finally see how high his Aura?! That was gre…wait a minute…'All' Heroines?

One quick check to the Menu and…why had that also given Affection Points to Sugu?!

In the real world, working in putting together a beautiful-looking mechanical wing, Kirigaya Suguha wondered why she couldn't stop smiling…and also feeling oddly jealous.

* * *

 **November 7th, 2024. 75th Floor, Aincrad. Just outside the Boss Room, 12:58…**

"Once again, let me remind you all of how dangerous this is going to be." spoke Heathcliff with a serious tone while pointing towards the massive door behind him, the Front Liners' full attention on him. "We don't know what to expect behind this door, except that it's probably going to be very mad, deadly, and absurdly powerful. Act with caution, follow the standard formations and cover each other backs. Let's not allow the lives of the Scout Party to have been lost in vain!"

The resounding chorus of affirmations was almost ironic to the ears of the player known as 'The Paladin' within Aincrad. If he was honest, a part of him had expected that even the entire party he had sent to scout this Floor Boss lost their lives, so that half of it had managed to come back alive was actually something very good. It was just a pity that none of the 10 remaining players, or anyone else currently there with him, would ever know that. Then again, there was no real way for them to know that he _knew_ beforehand that not only would every single Boss Room since the last floor onwards be a No-Crystal Zone, but also that the doors would automatically close behind any Player, Party or Raid that walked a specific distance inside.

Even as he thought those words, the man that was, in truth, Kayaba Akihiko couldn't help but feel another shiver running down his back, his eyes moving past where Diavel was giving a last rundown of the standard plans to the present KoB members, ignoring how Klein was giving a 'motivational speech' to his own guild and finally settling on the group closest to the back.

'Unison Heart' was a strange name, probably some joke he wasn't aware of, but it was what Kirito and all his female companions had decided to call their surprisingly formed guild. Still, even more than that being a surprise when they came back after their couple of weeks 'off the radar', or how it was clear for anyone with eyes how much closer the girls were with the boy they fancied, was how he could almost swear he had felt them glaring at him more than once.

However, like right now, every time he looked back he only saw them talking among themselves or in the middle of some shenanigan that seemed more fit for a comedy anime than to real life, even in such a bizarre situation as they were all in (Like right now, with Asuna asking for a 'Good luck kiss' having resulted in everyone asking for the same to the troubled if smiling gamer).

It had to be his imagination, though. Rinko was right; he was _so_ obsessed with the boy and the anomalies he caused…no, that happened around him for some 'unknown reason' and nothing more, that he had started to think they were onto him

After all, there was no way in Hell they could know his true identity…right?

"Commander Heathcliff?" snapped out of his convoluted thoughts by Diavel's voice, Heathcliff blinked and looked towards his second-in-command with his usual serene look, having no trouble putting his 'mask' back on for the blue-haired man. "We're ready, sir."

"Then let's go, Diavel. And remember, everyone…we will win and survive!" loudly declared 'The Paladin' while opening the door, leading the march into the massive chamber that was Floor 75's Boss Room.

"Man…this place is huge, eh?" commented Klein just as the doors closed ominously behind the Raid Group, looking around with narrowed eyes. "Where the hell is the Boss, though? This looks completely empty…"

"Klein-san…why does it felt as if you're triggering a terrible Death Flag?" gulped Nautilus while raising his sword and shield, Fuurinkazan all entering formation behind their youngest member and looking in all directions.

"…kyuuu…" 'growled' Pina while staring towards Silica, the Kirin-armored girl looking at her partner, quickly glancing upwards, nodding and taking a deep breath.

"Everyone…ready your weapons and don't look up, please." informed the young girl while removing her dagger from her hips, her legs tensing while her friend and pet opened her wings.

Of course, this caused every single person not belonging to her guild/family to look up, finally becoming aware of a terrifying vision.

Heathcliff had to accept, it was actually easy to 'fake' his shock and horror upon seeing the unholy form of 'The Skull Reaper' staring back down at them from where it hung on the ceiling. After all, knowing how it was and all of its attack patterns or not, seeing the skeletal centipede of death in person as it roared down and threw itself towards the Front Liners was certainly rattling.

Not as much as seeing an ungodly amount of electricity striking it mid-fall, though, making it look for a moment as if it was but a cartoon character suffering from the classical electrocution cliché effect. Then, the Elder Feathery Dragon (Which was a thing not supposed to exist, by the way!) crashed into the abomination's side, throwing it off course while her rider unleashed a surprisingly powerful Dagger Skill, the advantage of having a flying beast under her to move her away letting her ignore the post-Skill delay entirely.

Almost half of the first HP Bar of the Super Boss vanished when it crashed head-first on the ground almost 15 meters away from its original objective, the stunned players blinking in surprise upon seeing that.

Not all of them, though, as the other members of Unison Heart, Kirito leading the charge, had already surrounded the stunned Boss' head, the boy's favorite Composite Skill abusing his cloak's stupidly broken Bonus as it slammed his fist and then his sword on the creature's side, actually making the skeletal titan stumble back.

Directly into the barrage of Sword Skills that all the girls had prepared, critically damaging the beast.

Then, when it was finally recovering and about to unleash its deadly combo of Brutal Speed+Deadly Scythe-limbs…'something' invisible slammed its head upwards at Sachi's command just as Pina flew overhead, critically frying it once again, followed by a powerful Skill from Silica, making the creature stumble onto Kirito. Who unleashed another 'Meteor Break'. Which sent the Boss against the other girls' new barrage of Skills…

"Are…are they seriously Stun-Locking that thing?" mumbled Klein with a tiny voice, every single gamer in the group of Players nodding dumbly, unsure of how to feel.

It was at that moment that Heathcliff became aware that Yuna had been singing for a while now. And not only because of all the Top-tier Buffs that had shown up upon his HP Bar (Gods, when had the girl Maxed the Chant Skill?!), but also because the brown-haired girl had just started running past the gathered Front Liners, putting her lute on her back while unsheathing her dagger and giving them a harsh look.

"What are you all waiting for?!" shouted the songstress without slowing down. "They need our help, idiots!"

"A-ah! Yuna-chan is right! Let's go, Fuurinkazan!" screamed Klein as he led the charge after their only female member, Nautilus and everyone else following shortly after.

"Yuna, wait for us! It's not safe if you go alone!"

"…how do they keep pulling things like this?" mumbled Diavel what probably everyone was thinking.

Then, everyone was screaming wordlessly and rushing forward after the two smaller guilds, all plans forgotten in favor of attacking the defenseless massive Boss.

The following fight…was nothing like how Heathcliff had expected it. Hell, it could barely even be called a 'fight', really. Even when its last HP Bar fell into the red and the Skull Reaper managed to get free of the 'Stun-Lock' in a move that took everyone by surprise, a quick shout of Kirito had answered it when his guild executed an absurd move that apparently consisted on turning Lisbeth into a living immovable object, the brutally powerful scythe-limb of the Boss being unable to do anything but bounce from the girl's stupidly big shield, her body heavily armored to the point of absurdity.

It was at that point that Pina had flown over again and Silica had jumped off, starting to go wild while 'riding' the head of the creature, who had apparently panicked at the repeated stabs it was receiving, having no way of reaching its skull to tear off the young girl.

Of course, that's when everyone had their attack again, Yuna's latest song buffing the entire raid…

And then it was over, the Skull Reaper shattering into polygons after having barely hurt any Player at all, in the most anticlimactic Super Boss fight in Aincrad's history

While everyone cheered like crazy and let themselves fall to the ground, mentally exhausted and excited, Heathcliff couldn't help but feel extremely…disappointed. Not to mention frustrated.

Once again, that weird boy and his Harem of anomalies had not only seemingly done the impossible, but this time directly turning what was supposed to be one of his world's most iconic and dramatic moments into a joke. It was all so…!

"Hey there Heathcliff. You okay?" came the unexpected voice of the last person the red-armored man wanted to see in that moment, though his face never wavered as he turned to look at Kirito's silver-cloaked form. "That thing's other limb hit you, right?"

"Your concern is appreciated, Kirito-kun, but as you can see, I'm perfectly fine." pointed out the KoB's leader while gesturing towards his HP Bar, which was just high enough to still be on the green. "Thanks to you and your friends'…'unorthodox strategy', this may actually have been our easiest Boss fight yet…against all predictions…"

"Yeah, about that…they're kinda my wives now. By Elven standards, at least." calmly confessed the boy with a smile and a shrug, making Heathcliff blink.

"I'm sorry, what…?"

Seeing the sword flying upwards would have normally been more than enough to alert him. The shining punch moving up towards his chest should have been easy enough to dodge.

However, the truth was that the red-armored man wasn't in the best mindset at that moment, and the gamer had specifically told him something to completely throw off his already tired mind. Under such circumstances, there was no way he could have avoided the brutal punch of the Composite Skill, the stupidly broken Bonus in Kirito's cloak making his HP sink all the way to the Yellow in an instant, not to mention sending him staggering backward.

Absolute silence and shock had started to fill the Boss Room, all eyes turning towards the scene almost in slow motion, when the black-haired boy's blade fell down and he grabbed it, slashing with the now glowing black sword and brutally cutting through 'The Paladin'.

Or trying to, at least, because a glowing window with the words 'Immortal Object' materialized the moment Heathcliff's HP should have gone below its halfway point, making the gamer's sword bounce back.

All voices that were about to shout or scream towards Kirito died immediately, every single player now STARING at the leader of the Knights of Blood with absolute shock.

"Game Over, Kayaba Akihiko." coldly declared Kirito while glaring at the man, making shouts of horror and disbelief to escape the Front Liners at his declaration. "This ends now."

"Co-commander…?" mumbled Diavel while looking at Heathcliff with wide eyes, as if unable to accept the truth.

"You…" started to say the red-armored man while glaring at the black-haired boy…before he swiftly spun around and made Lisbeth's mace crash against his shield, his sword lashing out and hitting Argo on the side. "Did you really…?!"

"Gah!"

"Dammit…keep going!"

"…think it would…?!" continued the Creator of SAO while throwing his attackers off in time to slam his shield on Pina's neck, making the dragon and her rider cry out and crash into the incoming Kizmel.

"Aaaah!"

"Kyuu!"

"Bastard…!"

"…be that easy?!" finished Heathcliff with an almost mad shout as his blade easily parried Asuna and Lux's strikes, actually making the wide-eyed girls lose their weapons even as he took several more steps back.

"…being honest…"

"…no, we didn't. SACHI!"

The white-haired girl's last scream had just finished registering on the man's mind when an invisible force took hold of both his overextended arms and slammed him onto his knees, his STR apparently meaningless all of a sudden.

"Keep him there, Night Kitty." spoke the group's spear-user while putting the tip of her weapon on Heathcliff's back, the wide-eyed 'Paladin' apparently still unable to believe what had just happened.

"Wha…what the hell just happened?" questioned Klein while everyone looked on in shock, the events that had just taken place apparently not having fully sunk in their minds.

"Heathcliff was Kayaba Akihiko the whole time." clarified Kirito what he had already said while everyone gaped at him. "He has been literally 'playing' us the whole time…or, at least, since the Knights of Blood were formed."

"But we came up with a plan to expose him! And it worked!" cheered Yuna while her guildmates looked at her open-mouthed, causing her to shrug in response. "Sorry for not telling you, guys, but the fewer people knew the better chances we had of catching him off guard."

"You all saw the Immortal Object screen on his Avatar." declared Asuna while scowling and pointing an accusing finger towards Heathcliff. "He has _never_ been in the same danger as us every time we went to a Boss Fight."

"Yeah, and, somehow, we actually pulled it off." grinned Argo as she walked over the oddly silent and close-eyed man, even as everyone started mumbling among themselves, some still in denial and others glaring murder at their 'jailer'. "Now, 'Heathcliff', you better start talking so we can…"

"System Command!" roared the creator of SAO as his eyes snapped open, taking everyone by surprise. "Inflict Paralysis Status to All Players in Floor Boss Room 75!"

The black-haired boy's eyes had just finished widening when he felt his body suddenly no longer obeying him, falling helplessly on his back as he became unable to move even a muscle.

"AGH!"

"What…?!"

"My body…!"

Everyone's screams confirmed that they had suffered the same fate, Sachi's own shout of panic being quickly followed by Heathcliff rolling forward and away from her, gasping for breath while glaring at the girl, who watched helplessly something only she could see materializing again and helplessly try to reach the man.

"…just as I thought. Your 'phantasmal anomaly' has a Range limit set around your body that it cannot bypass." muttered the 'Paladin' with a scowl as he took a deep breath. "Okay then, that does it…you all have officially ruined everything."

And with those words uttered, 'Heathcliff' fell away, the mask in the man's face slipping and leaving an unusually annoyed Kayaba Akihiko looking around him with frustration, his gaze settling on the struggling Kirito as he tried hopelessly to move again.

"Dammit…stupid! How didn't I think he would have some sort of Voice Command?! I'm so…!"

"You! This is all your fault!" all but screamed the armored man while marching towards the boy, everyone looking on helplessly as he stopped before the now blinking gamer. "I had a plan, you know?! There was supposed to be an order to this! I was supposed to dramatically reveal myself as 'the villain' once we reached Floor 95! The big twist to give the last part of this world's story a spin that would motivate everyone to reach Floor 100 more than ever! But now, because of you, I'm going to have to go wait at the Hundredth Floor right now…"

"Yo-you dare treat all of this as if it was just some amusing plot you're the author of?!" snarled Kizmel while uselessly trying to reach for something in her pocket. "You truly are…nothing but a monster!"

"I _really_ don't want to hear that from a Rogue NPC of all things, thank you very much." dryly replied Kayaba without even bothering to look at the Dark Elf, ignoring the hateful looks others were giving him for his words. "…before I go, though…I need to know…I need to, or I will never be able to rest at peace…how?"

"Eh?" answered Kirito with confusion at the unexpected question, looking up at the creator of SAO in confusion. "How what?"

"How the hell did you do it?!" shouted the man with a suddenly hysterical edge, which everyone would have recoiled from if they could move, the black-haired boy actually feeling disturbed at the look he was aiming at him. "All the craziness around you, all the unexplainable madness! Not even the world's best hackers working together can get through Cardinal's most basic defenses…yet your very existence seems to somehow make it all go crazy without reason!"

"Wha-what is he talking about?" demanded Nautilus with utter confusion, mirrored by almost everyone around him.

"Oh please, don't act as if you haven't noticed! The little girl with the impossible armor and the giant dragon she can ride?! The other one with the 'ghost' that gives the middle finger to most in-game limitations?! All the stupid coincidences that take place with those around him, from tripping Bosses to conveniently timed arrivals?!" listed Kayaba with a clear desperate tone, before glaring down at the helpless gamer. "There is just so much that can be chalked up to 'coincidence' and then there is total bullshit! Even discovering who I am…that's just going too far! So please, tell me…how?!"

"…you wouldn't believe me if I told you." simply answered Kirito with a completely straight face, making everyone look at him in surprise and the armored man to seem about to have an aneurysm. "Also…I can't believe you really forgot to mention the most obvious and recurrent 'weird' thing around me."

It was at that moment that Kayaba, and everyone else, became aware of the incoming sound of something rolling at great speeds.

To be fair, it wasn't as if the creator of SAO had 'forgotten' about it. It's just that, in an attempt to protect him from the insanity, his mind had purposefully make him not think about the, in his eyes, most stupidly absurd thing that seemed to have sprouted from the interaction of the player known as Kirito and everyone else. It was for that very same reason why he had made a convenient excuse to convince Fuurinkazan to leave it behind.

And that's why when the Fuurin-mobile slammed through the now open doors (As they have been since the Boss was defeated) and jumped into the air to fall straight towards him, all that he could do was stare dumbly.

Then, the bizarre rock-like vehicle crushed him, slamming down with a thunderous sound that reverberated through the entire room

The entire Raid Group stared, most of their minds once again refusing to accept the absurdity they had just seen.

"…Fuurin-mobile! You came to save us!" cried Klein with a proud look, even as the rest of his guild (Sans Yuna) gaped repeatedly at their signature vehicle. "You're truly a member more of Fuurinkazan!"

As if answering the samurai-wannabe's words, the rock's side suddenly opened, making most people present gasp…and then blink in confusion as a dizzy-looking little girl with long black hair emerged, shaking her head repeatedly as she fell out of the Fuurin-mobile rather ungracefully.

"Kuu…driving that thing is harder than it looks…also, I'm an AI, why the hell would someone design me with the capacity of getting dizzy? Wish I had forgotten that too…"

"Just in time, Yui-chan!" cheered Silica with a relieved look, Pina cooing in approval just at her side.

"Uh…? Yes, I did it! I actually arrived at the Boss Room this time!" cheered Yui once she became aware of her surroundings, raising her arms and running in circles around where the Fuurin-mobile was crushing Kayaba's avatar. "I only had to crash against 46 walls to do so!"

"…do I even want to ask?" helplessly muttered Diavel while looking at the edge of just starting to slam his head on the ground (If he could actually move it, that is).

"We had Yui-chan on standby in case something unexpected happened." informed Lux with a nonchalant smile, though it looked quite out of place given the awkward position in which she had fallen, with an arm squeezing one of her breasts, her face almost to the ground and her legs way too open (Achieved like only one intimate with the art of falling down could manage). "She taking Klein-san's vehicle was unexpected, though."

"That's because I have something my old self never had: A lot of empty space in my mind hungry to be filled with ideas!" proudly declared the AI while doing a cute pose. "When I saw Heathcliff convince Fuurinkazan of leaving their vehicle behind, I knew it would only be…!"

With a thunderous sound, the Fuurin-mobile rolled to the side, Yui freezing in place as everyone's eyes widened, the virtual little girl spinning around in time to see Kayaba's angry form towering over her.

"MHCP-001…of course. Because, why wouldn't you be here? Never mind that it's impossible or that Cardinal supposedly deleted you a few weeks ago for 'programming issues'…" grumbled the red-armored man while the 'Immortal Object' pop-up, the only reason he had been able to get out from under the rock's supposedly immovable form, vanished from his body. "I guess at this point nothing surprises me anymore when it comes from that damn boy."

"…so _that's_ what my designation was! I knew I had most of the letters right!" commented the AI while slamming her closed fist on her open palm, before she frowned and looked back at her creator. "Also, don't insult Papa! You…big dummy!"

A heavy silence followed as Kayaba stared back at Yui. Then, without hesitation, he mercilessly slammed his shield on the girl's body, sending her flying away like a ragdoll, everyone's hearts freezing in horror at the sight.

"I'm so done with everything right now." emptily declared the man while turning around, giving his back to the AI's flying body. "I will just go to the 100th Floor now and…"

THUD!

"…ouch…thanks, Papa!"

Taking another deep breath, the creator of Sword Art Online turned around, already expecting but still dreading what he was going to see.

Letting a smiling Yui stand on her own again, Kirito **glared** back at him, impossibly free of the Paralysis Effect, the black-haired boy walking forward without another word after giving his 'daughter' a soft head-pat.

Then, without another word, his hand flashed towards his menu.

"You…I'm not even going to bother." sighed Kayaba with a broken smile before manipulating his own menu with ease, refilling his HP and letting a window showing 'Changed to Mortal Object' appear over him. "So, that's how you want to do it, eh? One big showdown; a big final battle between you and me to decide everyone's fate? So that I would release everyone if you managed to defeat me?!"

"…what? No, that's stupid. Not to mention selfish and quite egocentric, the sole reason me and the girls planned this whole thing originally was so that it didn't come down to something as dumb as that." explained the gamer while his hand finally found what he had been looking for, his unusually cold gaze softening as he looked at all the worried but silent girls staring at him from the ground. "But…you just hit our daughter. So I'm going to break every inexistent bone in your virtual body in their place…just because I want to."

In a flash so fast it seemed more like a transformation than a change of Equipment, a figure clad in silver and blue armor with rune-like markings stood proudly, a similarly amazing sword with an almost electric hue now in his dominant hand while his black blade had moved to the left one.

"…oh sweet God. You're crazier than I thought." flatly pointed out the armored man while readying his blade.

"You can say that again, Heathcliff…no, Kayaba Akihiko. Villain, scum…a madman that has cost countless innocent lives." declared the _Nameless Knight_ while doing a dramatic pose, making everyone there stare in awe. "I'm going to kick your ass now!"

"…God, I love that man." simply declared Kizmel with a happy smile.

"Kii-chan…I completely agree." added Argo while nodding softly.

"Shut the hell up, all of youuuu!" shouted Kayaba before rushing forward like a meteor, his shield clashing with Elucidator even as his blade slammed Elder Emperor aside, his face the epitome of someone that was just _'Tired of this shit'_. "I don't even care about knowing the truth behind this madness anymore, just as long as I can remove you from my world!"

"Okay, if you want the truth, here it is…" simply stated the armored boy, shocking everyone, even his enemy himself, at his heartfelt tone. "One month before SAO started…my life became a videogame. And now I'm the Main Character."

More silence ensued. Kayaba's gaze, somehow, became even flatter than it had a minute ago.

"…I'm just going to kill you now." promised the creator of SAO with the most passionate sincerity he had felt in his whole life.

"I respectfully disagree!" retorted Kirito while _head-butting_ him, the man's cry of shock showing the big difference between their armors (That is, one of them wearing an actual helmet) becoming obvious as his HP fell, before suddenly finding himself at the defensive from the armored boy's brutal onslaught. "Today…is the day…this ends…!"

"I couldn't agree more!" shouted back Kayaba, no longer caring for even trying to recover his cool as he expertly spun around the Nameless Knight's next slash and parried the second one. "But not the way you seem to think!"

Then, with a loud scream, he slashed down, his blade glowing with the power of Holy Sword's 'Light Cutter' Skill.

Kirito had just a moment to be shocked before it crashed against Elucidator's hilt, his trusted black sword shattering into polygons.

The backslash of the unexpected 'Arms Break' made the armored boy fell backward, the world seeming to slow down as he saw the armored man break free from his Post-Skill delay and shoot forward, his blade aimed straight for his helmet.

 _"Ah…maybe I truly let all of this get to my head…"_ idly thought the gamer as he saw his incoming death in the form of a white-glowing sword.

"KIRITO!" a myriad of voices cried at the same time.

And the world truly slowed down.

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

 _"…what. But…none of them is being…!"_

The realization hit Kirito the very next second, even as he saw the frozen world around him 'crack' like an ever-expanding shockwave, reaching beyond his sight in every direction.

In that very moment, his stupid power had declared a single truth.

His death would be the biggest threat to all his Heroine's Smiles.

And in accordance to that, in that very moment, Reality changed and what should have been 'Impossible' happened 'because of reasons': The supposedly perfect Cardinal System… _glitched_.

Every single error that the system had been accumulating exploding outward, causing a terrible corruption that fell over all of Aincrad like an invisible tidal wave.

It just _so_ happened to go through the 75th Floor the very moment Kayaba's sword should have cut into his helmet, making every single Avatar in the room look like shimmering static for a second…and letting the sword harmlessly go through his entire virtual head, stopping beyond it and letting the creator of SAO stuck in an awkward pose.

…Sweet God praise the Bullshit Skill in all heavens…he had just been gifted with circumstantial Plot Armor.

There was not enough time to register that, though. Not even to enjoy the red-armored man's dumbfounded look as he gaped from his blade to his helmet as if trying to understand what the hell just happened.

The moment the world returned to normal in his eyes and his Avatar felt solid again, Kirito shot forward, his fist shining with the might of Martial Arts and crashing straight on 'Heathcliff's face. Then, his sword followed with a mighty tackle.

One by one, a total of 7 hits crashed against the creator's body, the 'Meteor Break' that was all but the trademark Skill of the 'Ladies Man Swordsman' being delivered by the Nameless Knight without any mercy.

Ironically, the only reason Kayaba's HP, now firmly in the red, didn't completely vanish was exactly because the boy was clad in his 'Knight Armor' instead of in his trademark cloak, which gave his Martial Art Skills that stupid Boost.

Even so, the red-armored man knew it was already over. Unbalanced as he was, the last hit having actually made him drop his blade, there was no way for him to take advantage of the gamer's Post-Skill delay. Despair and frustration filling him, the creator of SAO saw Kirito recovering and, with a loud cry, shoot forward while gripping his blade with both hands.

However…the armored boy had forgotten, again, a very important fact.

His power didn't really care about him at all. And, once it had done its purpose, the crazy consequences his 'Skill' caused were no longer under control.

That's why he had no way of knowing how the 'wave' of the 'Glitch' corrupting all of Aincrad came back at that moment, a strange Pop-up window appearing in his enemy's vision as it did so, making his eyes widen in horror.

"Oh shit."

And just like that, an instant before the Nameless Knight's sword pierced through his armor…the avatar known as Heathcliff shattered into white light, vanishing from Aincrad.

Stumbling forward, Kirito blinked, looking in confusion at where his 'mortal enemy' had been.

"Uhm…did I just win?" asked the armored boy in confusion, his 'knight-like tone' gone from his voice as he awkwardly lowered Elder Emperor.

Then, he was tackled to the ground when Pina all but bowled him over, Silica sliding beside her pet and hugging the life out of him, tears running down her eyes as she shook with a smile.

"Thank Heavens…Kirito-san…you're fine…"

"Kii-bou!" all but screamed Argo while tackling him too, making the gamer fall again when he had tried to stand while supporting the youngest girl he knew. "Dammit…you almost gave us a heart attack!"

"He did do what he promised, though." pointed out a smiling Kizmel while joining the group-hug. "That bastard got punished for daring to hurt Yui-chan."

"I want to make clear, that's the only reason I'm not angry at you, Kirito-kun." added Asuna with a small pout while also joining the hug. "…just never do something like that alone again, okay?"

"I won't…I promise." declared the boy with a tired smile, feeling as if a weight had just been lifted from his shoulders, the realization that he was _still alive_ after all that madness finally hitting him.

"You better!" added Sachi with a small sob while 'hugging' the group, though it actually was Night Kitty doing most of the work, making them all laugh as they were all but lifted off the ground by the 'guardian spirit'.

"Honestly…if I have to be sincere, I think that's something that's almost part of him." commented Lisbeth while walking close with a big smile. "He wouldn't be Kirito if he didn't try to pull off something like that for someone else's sake."

"I know what you mean…that's another reason why we love him, though, isn't it?" wondered Lux while stopping beside the blacksmith. "But anyway…all is well that ends well?"

"No, not yet." declared Yuna while also joining the group. "…first let him take off that armor so we can kiss him, and _then_ it will all be well.

"Yay! Happy Ending!" declared Yui while raising her hands.

"Ehem…I don't really want to be that one guy that totally breaks the mood and interrupts this tender moment…" spoke Klein while failing to conceal his jealous face, though given that almost every male present looked similarly annoyed it wasn't that easy. "But…if we beat that bastard, why hasn't the game ended?"

For a moment, the gathered members of 'Unison Heart' (Plus Yuna) blinked, looking at the bandana-wearing man with confusion. Then, they stared at each other and their surroundings, every single Front Liner following cue.

Several more seconds of awkward silence passed before a dread-filled Kirito voiced the question they all feared, having noticed something else

"…when did the doors to get back into the Labyrinth close again?"

At that moment, as the effects of 'The Glitch' brutally expanded through Aincrad…several events that would shape the future took place.

First, the Cardinal System's 'limitations' went haywire, every single restriction it had cracking painfully. Concretely, though, the Quest-Generating Engine crashed and then restarted, except that now it lacked the parameters which should limit what information and data it took from the Internet to create 'fitting' Quests for SAO. And it suddenly started working overtime.

Second…an 'unlucky' Player, arguably the unluckiest in the entire Floating Castle, screamed, the poor orange-haired girl falling down on her face in the middle of a strange forest.

Having been the only Player among every single other one that had used a Teleport Crystal when the 'Glitch' hit, that was probably natural, though. Especially when she stood up and blanched, seeing the full and open blue sky over her head.

"Wha-what the…where am I?! Why…why isn't there another Floor above me?!" cried out the dagger-user while taking a step back, before hearing a weird 'cracking' sound behind her, turning around in time to see…Herself. "…eh?"

"…eh? Di-die!" declared the identical girl before shooting forward, dagger in hand.

A scream followed before the sound of a fierce fight consumed the forest. Then, seconds later, the sound of breaking polygons replaced it, only one orange-haired girl remaining, gasping for breath as she stared with shaky eyes to where her 'twin' had been.

Her cursor turned Orange, as if confirming she had just killed another player.

"What…just happened? Go-Gods…what did I just do?! What…?"

 _[cONGratuLAtIonS…]_

Under normal circumstances, the girl would have been terrified at the unusually creepy post-battle window. However, her attention was completely drawn away, even from the trauma that had been about to consume her, when an Item appeared where her 'copy' had been defeated, something completely at odds with how Drops usually went directly to one's menu.

It was an otherworldly beautiful golden ring, with strange engravings in some mystical tongue, which almost seemed to shine like fire for an instant…

At once, every single 'person' in that massive area froze. Then, they turned around, all staring in the same direction, their eyes gaining a weird glow.

"…precious…" whispered the orange-haired girl as her hand closed around the ring, feeling POWER filling her…

In another place, the second event that would shape the future took place with much less fanfare, as there was literally nothing to see it.

Then again, it wasn't as if anyone but Kayaba Akihiko could see the core of the Cardinal System, the place most affected by the sudden 'Glitch', and right now it was in a state of complete chaos, 'Error' windows filling everything while the system tried to keep itself together.

In the middle of that utter chaos…it was just another of that day's many 'coincidences' what Triggered a sleeping program, awakening it in the middle of that ocean of Errors.

'It' couldn't even blink before being assaulted by utter corruption.

 _[Warning! MHCP-002 has been activated!]_

 _[Warning! Program has been corrupted! Mental Data being infected!]_

 _[Warning! Foreign Information being fed to the program! Quest-Generating Routine bleeding into the systems…]_

 _[Warning! MHCP-002 is going rogue! Hijacking an unused Beta Avatar! Program must…be…terminated…]_

 _[ERROR! ERROR! ERR-!]_

With a thunderous sound, a 'portal' cracked open near the edge of Aincrad's 76th Floor, a buxom figure emerging and rolling gracefully over the grass. Then, she turned around and stared blankly at the sea of corruption still visible through the portal with her red eyes, before, unceremoniously, cutting it down with the aberration of a weapon she was carrying, some kind of unholy cleaver the size of a two-handed sword.

The 'portal' vanished, as if slain by the monstrous weapon. Seemingly without effort, the 'girl' flickered it to one side, letting it 'fold' until it now resembled some massive saw, which she put on her back nonchalantly before muttering two simple words.

"Prey Slaughtered."

Silence fell upon the area before, slowly, the lavender-haired female looked down at her body, staring at her hands as if they were the most amazing things she had ever seen.

She started to laugh. Not in the 'kind and beautiful' way, though. More like in the 'Run away from this psycho as fast as you can'-kind of laugh, so loud it seemed to echo through the whole floor.

Sadly, there was no one currently in said Floor, and so her insane laughter went unheard even as she slowly regained her breathing before breaking into a pure and almost innocent smile as she turned around.

"Now then…where can I find big sis…?"

At that moment, in the real world, the third future-changing event took place even as Kirigaya Suguha walked around the round, seemingly about to finish a call.

"…yeah, I have the money. Yes, I know you could get in trouble for this, so thanks again for selling it to me, my 'school project' about FullDive tech is going to be perfect thanks to it. Why are you even so worried about? It's not as if I could actually use the thing, you know? And technically, it's completely harmless without a copy of _that_ game!…so, this weekend in the park near the station? Yup, I will bring a bag big enough to hide it, don't worry. See you then."

With one last sigh, the young kendoka ended the call, wondering how her mother, father, or even her deceased grandfather would feel if they knew how easily he had lied to the random girl that only wanted to get rid of a 'taboo' device she despised while getting some money out of it.

"Am I a bad person, Fuu-chan? Or is it really okay to do this just to…see if I can save him?" wondered Suguha while looking towards the massive dog/cat/whatever plushie resting on her bed, which obviously offered no answer. "…what about you, Wing Zero? Am I making the right choice?"

The beautiful model of a robot with angel-like wings, which clearly had taken a lot of dedication to put together, didn't answer either. It did make for quite an impressive sight from the shelf it was resting on, though, atop almost a dozen other different robotic figures, all of them carefully assembled by hand.

"…great, I have started talking with my toys." whispered the young kendoka before shaking her head, an unwavering resolution filling her eyes. "Doesn't matter, though. I'm going to do this…no matter what. Wait for me, Onii-chan."

With that said, the black-haired girl walked out of her room, nothing but determination in her steps.

Behind the model of the Wing Zero Ver. EW, also known as the 'Wing Zero Custom', as if the robotic figure was hiding it from the world like a guardian, a game case with the words 'SAO' and the figure of a floating castle on its cover waited for its moment to be used…

Finally, in a certain apartment of the city, the last event that would change Everything took place, a bespectacled girl that looked too young to be living alone finally nodding to herself and grabbing her phone to make a call, still looking at the small leaflet on her bed.

"…hello? Yes, I was calling because of the offer you published, about looking for testers to use an outdated VR Machine to treat psychological issues…Medicuboid, was it?" closing her eyes, the dark-haired girl nodded to herself. "Yes, my name is Asada Shino. It's okay, I can wait…"

And with those words, the last event that would set a New Future into motion took place. Everything was ready.

Back within Aincrad, once again out of his heroic armor and wearing his silver cloak, a worried-looking Kirito stared towards the stairs that led to Floor 76, a weird feeling of dread filling his stomach as he idly heard Diavel trying to organize the worried Front Liners.

"…something tells me things are just going to get crazier from now on." despaired the black-haired boy before smiling upon seeing his kinda-wives helping bring order, Klein helping out too while standing atop his loyal Fuurin-mobile, ignoring Yui's pleas to let her drive it again. "But well…I guess that, as long as we're all together, it really can't be that bad, right?"

 **[Congratulations! You cleared the 'Aincrad' Scenario! You gain +5 in Wisdom!]**

 **['Hollow Fragment' Scenario has begun!]**

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement 'From Bad to Worse'! You gain +1 in Charm!]**

…fucking Dating Sim power…

On the edge between Reality and Unreality, [DEATH] scoffed while [LIFE] released a happy chuckle, before both 'sisters' stared at each other with a challenging look.

Round 2 was just beginning, after all…

* * *

 **[Arc 2: Mastering Routes]-END**

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Starting an Alternative Route!

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Hollow Fragment, here we go XP!au

Well, how did you all like that? Had fun? Before anyone complains about the fights being 'disappointing', I would like to remind you that the whole point of this fic wasn't the action, but the hilarity and weirdness caused by Kirito's dating-shenanigans, and I'm sure it delivered in that regard :3 Also, I had a hilarious amount of fun writing Silica going all Monster Hunter on Skull Reaper, for some reason XD

And so, we have officially abandoned Canon and started the SAO Gameverse storyline. For those that don't know, essentially, the SAO console games (Several of which have been ported to PC lately, even if out of order) actually form an 'Alternative Universe' (With every new game being a new 'arc' of it like the main series' seasons) which diverges from Canon SAO exactly during this point, at the end of Aincrad, and has everything go a bit bonkers in all senses. In this fic, well…that's just going to double so, and the 'teasers' there at the end should be quite an obvious hint :P

Did you get a laugh out of Kizmel's 'bonding ceremony', by the way? Got to say, since I subtly teased it a few chapters back, I was looking forward to writing it. Poor Kirito still doesn't understand how deep in he actually is and honestly believes it will all just end with him getting dumped in the end. Oh boy, he has no idea of what the future has in store for him. Next time, a Mechanical Angel and a Nameless Archer appear in Aincrad…

But well, all of that shall be next chapter, so I should probably stop that! Then again, it will be a little while before we get there, uh? Next fic Updated should be Lusus Naturae, after quite some time! See you all there, and those that don't read it, well, see you here next time, whenever that is :D!

Until then, this is Saint, signing off!

 _ **Editor notes** : Another amazing chapter is already here! I will be honest, when I saw Saint's mention of Kizmel having a surprise _in _the beginning, I immediately knew there was going to be some form of a wedding based on_ Kizmel's _personality._

 _That said, now on to some points of contention that may or may not_ bare _fruit in the future. Firstly, we still do not know what the "Aura" stat is, despite it being unlocked now. I imagine it represents just how screwed Kirito is in terms of his reality breaking powers. As for the other thing, it was Kayaba declaring "Oh shit" as he was defeated. Saint mentioned something appearing there right before his death. I wonder what that was? Only time may tell I suppose._

 _Anyway, I am eagerly awaiting Sugu finding out about Kirito's 'harem' in the near future. It will give me a good laugh, knowing Saint. Saint and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and we hope you continue to enjoy this story. Until next time!_ Ja ne _!_


	9. Scene 8: Starting an Alternative Route!

Hi everyone! Saint back here, after finishing my first new schedule's 'rotation' of fics! Got to say, that was faster and nicer than I thought OwO

Not much to say this time except that you should get ready for things to get crazier XP Also, glad to see so many people liking this stupidly fun story! Still can't believe such a random idea became, well, so popular :P

With that said, enjoy the mad beginning of the SAO Gameverse's storyline in this Eroge-guided story of ours :D

Oh, and as always, help out with my fics' TvTropes pages if you can! This one and Lusus Naturae's pages require some urgent updates, which I still suck at -x-

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

 **PS:** This chapter was Betaed by my good pal pikatwins234!

* * *

 **[Arc 3: Special Heroine Events]**

* * *

 **Scene 8: Starting an Alternative Route!**

 **November 14th, 2024. Kawagoe, Saitama. Kirigaya Household, 10: 30…**

Beautiful.

Majestic.

Breathtaking.

Those were just some of the words Kirigaya Suguha would have used to refer at the humanoid machine before her, floating just before the head as, after several hours, she finished putting it together.

Maybe it was because of the pristine white and blue armor, with a few parts in red and golden? The amazing 'W'-shaped armor on the forehead whose origins were inspired by samurai helmets? The humbling way in which its humanoid shape made it feel so 'real' yet at the same time even more unnatural, like a titan slumbering and waiting for mankind to unleash its power?

No. It was not because of that, and the young kendoka knew it.

At the end of the day, what made this particular Gundam Unit her favorite were the otherworldly and gorgeous angel-like wings on its back, currently folded and just waiting to spread out at a command.

Truly, the wings and the way she had seen the machine using them in the videos of those old anime OVA was what made her love the Wing Zero Ver. EW (better known as the 'Wing Zero Custom') the most. How the impressive machine used them to fly through the void of space, in the sea of stars…

It was something she had dreamed about many things while playing Alfheim Online, yet had never been able to do for more than obvious reasons. It was also the reason why she not only had that particular figure put in what amounted to a position of prestige in her room over all the others Model Kits she had assembled, but also why had gone so far as to buy a 'Full Scale Model Kit Construction' VR 'game' for her AmuSphere instead of a new shinai last month.

Of course, calling it a 'game' may be stretching it. After all, the only thing you could do in this 'virtual workshop' was assembling virtual recreations of the famed Gundam frames, though with barely above the difficulty of a Model Kit (Something obvious, given casual people wouldn't buy a game that required actual knowledge of putting together a giant robot).

Not much excitement gameplay-wise, and the most you could do once you finished assembling one was taking screenshots with it from any angle (Even within the cockpit, despite it not really 'working') that you could then download into a computer. However, no fan of Gunpla could deny how there was something incredibly thrilling in assembling and looking up at the real-sized and realistic-looking machines.

Plus, the fact that you could 'float around' to assemble them was also something the girl enjoyed. It may not be flying, but it was a relaxing substitute while she put this together.

Especially as…she had only assembled this one as a final 'test', a delaying of the inevitable, so to speak. Almost as if trying to see if she would change her opinion…but she hadn't.

With a sigh, Suguha looked one last time at the imposing form of the Wing Zero Custom, saved the 'model' and Logged Out. Once the world she perceived once again became her room, the young kendoka took off her AmuSphere, giving the halo-like device one last look before standing up and, after struggling for a bit, taking off 'something' from it.

The FullDive device's Inner Memory Card, to be precise.

"…okay then. Time to do this." whispered the black-haired girl before putting the memory card in her pocket and grabbing her unusually bulky school bag, a serious look in her eyes. "Fuu-chan, Wing Zero, look after mom. I'm going to save Onii-chan."

Neither the plushie nor the Gunpla Model answered her owner's words as she walked out of the room, obviously. However, if one were to pay enough attention while she exited her home, they may have sworn the plastic winged robot shook in place for an instant.

Half an hour later, no one thought anything strange when Kirigaya Suguha walked into Kawagoe's hospital, greeted the receptionist, a few nurses and, finally, entered a certain room, closing the door behind her.

Within, the emaciated body of Kirigaya Kazuto rested on the bed, his Nerve Gear still on and the several machines that kept his vitals under vigilance in the same place they had been yesterday. Idly, the teenager noticed that they had been cleaned before she walked to her adopted brother's side, looking down at him with a frown.

After 2 years in that bed, being fed through machines, the obvious deteriorating of his body was reaching terrible levels. All that time, the only thing she had been able to do was sit at his side, cry, pray and finally hope that he would wake up one day, free from that nightmare that had separated them when they had finally started to get close again…

No more, though.

And as she took out another Nerve Gear from her bag, put the copy of Sword Art Online in and, after fiddling with the back of it, replaced the memory by the one of her AmuSphere, the young kendoka swore it. That she would put an end to it all.

Even as she was kind enough to take off her clothes, leaving herself only in her underwear, and putting on a hospital gown from the room's closet, the girl considered once again everything she was risking. Losing who knew how long of her education, being labeled as a lunatic by the people who found her, probably put her mother through even more grief…

The memory of her and Kazuto smiling in that Ferris Wheel under the fireworks overcame it all, though. And with a last sigh, she left her bag, with a small note clearly explaining her motives and apologizing to her mother while saying how she was going to bring Kazuto back, the young kendoka walked to her brother's side once again.

Softly, she grabbed one of his hands and kissed it, wondering if her warmth could reach him within the virtual world.

"Wait up, Onii-chan…I'm coming."

Then, she plugged in her illegally obtained Nerve Gear, put it on and, after taking a deep breath, laid back on Kazuto's bed, making sure her body didn't accidentally bump into his in any way, before reciting 2 words she was intimately familiar with.

"Link Start!"

Within a blinding rainbow light, Suguha's consciousness vanished from the real world, heading towards a merciless one that had no escape unless it was completely beaten.

When a logging screen appeared to her, though…the young kendoka introduced her _ALO_ account data and, after several seconds of tense silence, cheered upon getting a positive result, the world around her warping as she felt her body changing slightly in a very familiar way.

Now then…there were a few things the eager girl, in her determination to save her adopted brother, hadn't taken into account.

For example, what she had just done, and what she had put her best hopes on, was in using her Alfheim Online avatar, named 'Leafa', to get into SAO, hence why she had swapped the memories of her AmuSphere with the Nerve Gear she had acquired. After all, she wouldn't be able to do anything if she started out with a weak character at Level 1, and Sword Art Online was very different from the only VRMMORPG she had played until then, where her skill had been enough to close the gap between stats.

She had no grounded logic, despite all the limited research she had done (As she obviously couldn't ask her mother for help in such), to believe it would work, but it had, solely because of how ALO and SAO had basically the same mainframe and game-structure in every way.

Unknown to Suguha, in another universe, a glitch of similar nature would have allowed the same adoptive brother she now sought to 'rescue' to get all his SAO Stats in a newly created ALO Avatar.

However, the young kendoka didn't know that, currently, Sword Art Online was still in a 'critical state' because of the impossible glitch that had corrupted its supposedly infallible Cardinal System. And, at the end of the day, what she had done was taking advantage of a glitch, albeit a minor one, to do what she did.

And finally…she had forgotten the insignificant and, under normal circumstances, meaningless detail that there was more than Alfheim Online's data saved within her AmuSpheres internal memory.

To the warped Cardinal System, though, the moment it detected something 'anomalous' trying to enter Aincrad, it reacted like a berserk animal trying to protect its territory…very poorly. Randomly lashing out towards the Logging Process was a clear example of that.

Just as she was feeling the familiar change in her hair (Turning long and blonde, that is) and very slightly in her frame (Toned muscle being replaced by beautiful and softer-looking curves and skin)…Kirigaya Suguha screamed, feeling the world 'glitching' around her and a sudden sensation as if her entire self was on fire.

Unseen by the panicking girl, the familiar imposing form of a certain fictional machine she had finished assembling not long ago materialized behind her, look all distorted and ghost-like.

At the new 'error'…the clearly unstable Cardinal System decided to change tactics. And so, instead of 'deleting', it...'fixed'. Or the closest thing it could in its chaotic state.

Screaming, 'Leafa' felt as if something was suddenly taking her body apart and putting 'something' on top of it before putting it back together again. The lack of actual pain made it feel extremely bizarre, but not as terrifying as she thought it would be. With morbid fascination, the now blonde girl looked at her hand as 'something' seemed to be sucked within her avatar, vaguely familiar metal seemingly encasing her form, even as something familiar yet different, and weirdly heavy yet amazingly light, attached to her back…

Utilizing its (Currently very damaged) ability to 'adapt' and 'learn', the Cardinal System continued the bizarre process of making all the 'foreign data' into a 'working SAO Avatar', merging all of it without a care. And when it found something it didn't properly understand…well, it was still connected to the Internet and able to search and generate anything for a Quest, right?

 _-Gundanium Alloy Armor…Data found! Implemented!_

 _-Beam Sabers…Data found! Implemented!_

 _-Machine Cannons…Data found! Implemented!_

 _\- AMBAC-aiding Wing Shields…Data found! Implemented!_

 _-ZERO System…Data Found! Imple…(WARNING)…mented!_

 _-Process Complete! Intr-o…duc—i…ng Pla-ye…r into…Aincrad…_

 _ERROR. DEFAULT SPAWNING ERROR. SPAWNING WILL BE RANDOMIZED…_

Meanwhile, within Aincrad…it had been another boring day for Fuurinkazan members Dynamm and Dale, but that, in a way, could be considering a blessing.

Finally, after their small task here was completed, they would have fully Mapped and analyzed every corner of Floor 76. Between that and the 'chaos' that had affected all the Front Liners after the madness that had been the 75th Boss Fight and 'The Glitch' all but over, perhaps they could finally start organizing efforts to continue climbing the Floating Castle.

Seriously, after everything they had needed to put in order during the last two weeks, most Players were looking forward to the Boss Fight more as means to fully relieve their stress rather than the fearsome challenge it should have been. Though being honest, after what they had seen the members of Unison Heart doing to the fearsome Skull Reaper, almost no Front Liner could feel scared of upcoming Bosses anymo…

"Uh? What's that?" asked the taller of the two while staring with confusion at what seemed a 'shining dot' between the trees.

"What's what, Dynamm?" questioned the member of Fuurinkazan that could usually be described as 'the fat guy with the afro', though obviously, no one who respected him called him that.

"That up ahead, in the clearing. Looks like a weird li…"

A literal explosion of raw power interrupted the man of the weird mustache, making both guildmates scream as they all but crashed on their asses as 'something' materialized several meters before them.

And _above_ them too, much to their shock, for the seemingly white 'cocoon' was floating in midair, almost at the same height of the tallest trees around them.

That was the moment it opened. Or, to be more precise, _unfolded_ itself, revealing the cocoon were actually four majestic wings (Two big and two smaller ones), with an unreal look, somehow seeming to have feathers, yet be made of unyielding steel. Connected to them, there was…an angel.

At least, that's what the two men thought as they gaped at the figure who shone as if she had an inner radiance. Her chest and hips were covered by imposing blue armor, with a shining green core in the center, which seemed to make even more evident her impressive bust. Upon her shoulders, three layers of armor formed the shoulder pads.

Aside from that, though, only her lower legs and forearms were 'armored', in white/red and white/blue armor respectively. Even the protrusions of blue metal over the forearms (Which looked suspiciously like some futuristic wrist-cannons) couldn't take away from how beautiful and unblemished the exposed skin in her legs and upper arms looked.

From the unearthly apparition's head, hair the color of the morning sun was tied into a ponytail, held together by a piece of blue metal. Finally, the last, though seemingly useless, piece of armor was some sort of golden tiara that formed a vaguely 'W'-shaped form in her forehead.

The two players would have called her a Goddess if it wasn't because of how the wings, which flapped softly like those of the most graceful bird, could do nothing but call forth the image of God's Messengers.

Then, her eyes opened, two pristine emeralds that took on the world around her before settling on them, like those of a celestial warrior looking down upon puny mortals.

Dynamm and Dale decided to take the most logical course of action…and ran away while screaming incoherencies, dearly wishing to have their guild's famous vehicle to help them.

Back in the forest clearing…the floating girl blinked owlishly several times in the direction both men had run off to, before finally reacting.

"Wa-wait, why are you running?! Is this SAO?! Where am I?!" uselessly cried out the 'angel' while extending a hand, only for her eyes to widen upon seeing the hauntingly familiar armor covering it, her gaze quickly taking on her new form. "Eh?…EEEEHHHHH?!"

It was at that moment that Kirigaya Suguha…or, Leafa now within the virtual world, completely lost the serious/solemn air and mood she had been carrying around since that morning as she proceeded to freak out, twist upside down in midair and then crash head-first on the ground.

All of that had been left behind in the real world, after all. Unknowing, she had entered a world where madness, silliness and random shenanigans ruled supreme.

 **[Special Event 'The Steel Angel's Odyssey' cleared! You gained +6 in Aura!]**

* * *

Arc Sophia was the main city of Aincrad's 76th Floor.

With its wide streets, several shops, many open lodges, Inns and many fountains, the town looked like the perfect idyllic place for someone to spend some well-deserved vacations.

Ironically, this had also made it a perfect place for establishing the new 'Headquarters' of the Front Liners after the debacle that had been the end of the 75th Floor's Boss Fight.

As the black-haired boy currently sitting in one of the biggest inns could attest, things had only gotten crazier in the days following that madness. Between everyone suddenly finding they _couldn't return_ to any of the lower Floors at all, be it by the Teleport Gate or using Crystals (Though teleportation within the Floor still seemed possible), the chaos of informing everyone they couldn't before more random players came up out of curiosity and got stuck on the Front Lines, and several of the Front Liners finding their equipment and/or Skill data having been 'corrupted' (Though thankfully not their levels), it was a miracle things hadn't turned out for the worst. And that was adding on top of Heathcliff's reveal as Kayaba Akihiko and his subsequent defeat.

Funnily enough, the same boy thinking all of this was the one that had been in the center of those events.

Though certainly, when sitting there all by himself wearing only his simple silver cloak, no one would have thought he was actually Kirito. The infamous 'Ladies Man Swordsman', leader of the arguably most popular Front Liner group (Recently turned Guild too), and also the not-so-secret-anymore identity of the famous Nameless Knight.

If almost everyone around there didn't know him firsthand, that is. After all, except for a few stragglers or guild members that had refused to abandon their fellows, everyone currently living within Arc Sophia had been there to see him fight against Kayaba.

As if that mysterious window telling him of a Special Event he didn't remember activating and that he had no idea who it referred to (Checking his 'Menu' hadn't helped and there were clearly no new entries among his 'Heroines'). He had gained some 'Aura', sure, but…

 **[Dating Stats]**

 **Charm: 106**

 **Wisdom: 119**

 **Aura: 304**

…since he had gained the ability to see said 'Stat', he felt it was a bit pointless. Like, seriously, what the hell?! How could his 'natural ability to attract other people' be so high?! To be almost 3 times his other two Stats implied it had to have been stupidly high from even _before_ he got his silly Dating Sim Powers, and that was absurd.

After all, there was no way he would have been some unbelievable chick magnet just by being himself if he had never gotten those powers…right?

Right, thinking that was stupid. His power had to be broken in that regard…somehow. He totally blamed it on all the attention he was getting despite doing nothing more than trying to finish his drink.

 _"Yep, this is my life now."_ mentally sighed the black-haired boy as he felt many stares/whispers directed at/about him. _"Who would have thought a few years back that I would ever become such a hot topic of conversation? I certainly didn't, and probably could have gone without it…but I guess it's more than worth it for…"_

"Kii-bou, there you are!"

"Kirito-kun, I know we told you to take it easy after everything these last days, but that's no reason for you to sneak off like that…"

"Well, you shouldn't be too surprised, Asuna, Argo. After all, our man probably also needs some alone time once in a while."

Letting a smile appear on his face, the most hated/loved/envied player in all of Aincrad turned around in time to see the familiar forms of three girls arrive to the table he had been sitting at.

Such reaction was only natural, though, as they had been the oldest of his friends, the closest of his not-girlfriends and, in a way, the once that understood him the best of his kinda-wives, after all.

"Sorry about that, Asuna, Argo, Kizmel. I was actually just trying to calm down with a quick drink before getting back to 'work'." explained Kirito while welcoming them and ordering a few more drinks, the girls sitting at his table while Asuna and Argo moved their chairs to be practically beside his like it was the most normal thing in the world. "These days have been beyond exhausting…"

"Well, having to deal with such an unexpected mess, not to mention right after having 'beaten' Kayaba, isn't easy to begin with. Let alone having to basically reconstruct the Front Lines or that so many top Players actually were unable to help out at all." sighed Argo while mumbling about psychologically weak idiots, leaning on the boy's side and purring happily as he absentmindedly removed her hood and started scratching her head.

"Tell me about it…is Diavel finally 'back'?"

"More or less." commented Asuna while receiving her drink from the waiter NPC and sipping on it while also leaning against the gamer's side, enjoying the warmth of his cloak and body. "Seeing him collapse and blame himself for everything once we were actually up here and the shock from Heathcliff's identity had worn off was actually something to see, even if very annoying…"

"Not as much as our Kirito here shaking him and telling him to get a hold of himself." smiled Kizmel while grabbing a small cake she had just ordered. "Thankfully he didn't take too long in somewhat putting himself together. The Knights of Blood need a new leader now, and as good as Asuna was doing helping them, it takes away from her time being with us…"

"Ugh, don't remind me. This is the last time I offer helping a big guild in trouble out of the goodness of my heart." groaned the chestnut-haired girl while the Dark Elf smirked and threw her cake's cherry towards their kinda-husband, the boy easily catching it with his mouth. "When we see Diavel again tomorrow I'm SO going to give him a piece of my mind!"

"That reminds me…where is everyone else?" asked Kirito with curiosity while swallowing the cherry and giving Kizmel a wink, making her chuckle softly.

He pointedly ignored how every single person in the inn's bar (Except Agil, who was simply cleaning things behind the counter) was staring at their open displays of affection with either jealousy or resignation. He had long since grown used to the fact there was no changing that.

"Silica and Lux are helping Liz with setting that new shop of hers in the merchant area of the town. Got to say, those 3 got along amazingly wel; those two really helped to cheer her up after realizing she couldn't go back down to her old smith shop." explained Asuna with a thoughtful look. "For some weird reason, though, I can't help but feel they're 'Missing Someone' when I see them hanging out…"

"Weird, but not the weirdest thing we have been through these last weeks, Aa-chan." reminded her Argo with an impish grin. "On that note, Yuna-chi and Sacchin are with most of the former's guild out there finishing the mapping duties. Oh, and they took Yui-chan with them."

"…well, as long as Klein doesn't let her drive the Fuurin-mobile and Sachi doesn't let her out of Night Kitty's sight, it should be fine." awkwardly laughed the black-haired boy while everyone sweatdropped at remembering how obsessed their kinda-daughter was with riding the strange rock-vehicle (Almost as much as with mumbling about 'Destroying the Future'). "…we're finally done though, huh?"

"Yeah…it took some time, but we managed to get everything in order and stop the Front Lines from collapsing." nodded Kizmel with seriousness, her gaze moving softly towards the ceiling. "Kayaba Akihiko's spell trapping you all here may not have been broken, but there is nothing standing between us and the top of this Castle now."

"Nothing besides the Floor Bosses and the Floor themselves, you mean." joked Asuna with just a hint of worry in her voice.

"After what we did to the 75th one, Aa-chan, Floor Bosses don't scare me anymore." commented Argo with a slightly frustrated tone. "The one thing that worries me the most is not knowing what happened with Kayaba and this 'glitch' that swept the Front Lines, essentially isolating us from the rest of Aincrad. That's a whole bunch of unknowns, and there is nothing an Info Broker hates more than missing a lot of information…"

"We may not be sure what's going on exactly right now…but we have one thing clear: We're getting to Floor 100, together." declared Kirito while shamelessly wrapping his arms around the two girls at his sides, hugging them against himself. "And as long as we stay like that, nothing else will matter."

"Kirito-kun…"

"Kii-bou…you dummy; stop saying such embarrassing things in public." chuckled the whiskered girl before returning the hug and pressing her cheek against his anyway, a healthy blush in her face. "Ah, but who am I kidding, that's exactly why we love you so much."

"I completely agree, Argo." added Kizmel while hugging them from behind the gamer, having stood up to do so while the Info Broker talked. "If we stay together, no Boss or Floor will matter at all."

"…yes, it's just as you say." agreed Asuna before happily kissing Kirito's cheek, making him blush but smile and squeeze her harder against his side. "Let's show this stupid Floating Castle why it's nothing before us!"

Nodding, the black-haired boy settled for enjoying the warmth the group-hug caused and the happiness warming his heart even more.

Sure, it was a bizarre situation by all standards, the stares they were getting and how he was sure someone was mumbling something about the four of them getting a room already, but he honestly couldn't care less.

No matter how horrible things may turn out for him at the end or if it had only been caused by some crazy reality-warping power, if there was something the gamer was completely sure about was that he didn't want to let the girls around him go. No matter how selfish or crazy that sounded for 'normal' people.

And no matter what other unexpected curves that damn world of Kayaba threw them, nothing would ever change tha…!

"ANGEL! A MECHANICAL ANGEL! THE END HAS COME!"

"CALL EVERYONE BACK! WE'RE DOOMED!"

"…eh?" voiced the 4 present members of Unison Heart in confusion, turning (Along with everyone else within the Inn's bar) in time to see Dynamm and Dale from Fuurinkazan enter while looking panicked and out of breath, Agil rushing at their side while shouting for someone to call Klein.

Ten minutes later, a serious-looking Kirito, Asuna, and Argo were walking into the forest near the east edge of the Floor, weapons out and looking ready for anything.

"…think those two will be fine?" asked the rapier-user while her gaze scanned the trees before them.

"Kii-chan offered to stay back and explain everything to Klein once he got back while we came to investigate this 'Robo-Angel' business." reminded the claw-user while they continued deeper into the woods. "If anything, I would be more worried about us…and on that note, why don't you have both your blades out, Kii-bou?"

"Well, putting aside that my current second blade is trash until I can find a proper replacement for Elucidator, if this mysterious Boss is as humanoid as they described, there is a good chance I can unbalance them pretty easily using my cloak's unfair Buff to Martial Arts." explained Kirito while raising his empty hand and frowning as they kept walking, Elder Emperor tightly gripped on his other one. "Still, the 'description' they gave didn't really help make any clearer what we're dealing with…"

Not to mention the sinking feeling he had about this being related to that mysterious 'Special Event' he had been informed about that morning, given that the word 'angel' had to be more than a coincidence. After all, the only angel anyone knew about in Aincrad was the Tsundere one in the lower floors whose quest you could complete to get those voice message-rings with overly romantic connotations.

Sadly, the boy wasn't betting on this just being the aforementioned NPC having gotten lost somehow.

"Tell me about it: Four wings, bright armor and 'hotter and sexier than any other girl we have seen'? Putting aside how stupid and vague that sounds, these guys were there when we met Queen Faraine, so they had to…be joking…or…"

Confused as to why Argo trailed off all of a sudden, the gamer turned to look at the suddenly open-mouth whiskered girl, following her gaze…and quickly entering a similar state. At his side, he heard Asuna gasp.

He would have done the same too, if he could find his voice. And it wasn't because the girl standing with her back half to them a few meters away was, indeed, extremely beautiful. Nor was it because of the pointy ears that made him for a second consider she maybe was an elf who had gotten lost.

It was because she was wearing what clearly was a female and slightly sexualized version of the freaking Wing Zero Custom Gundam as armor, with wings and everything. Which, given the fact she was floating almost a meter in the air, seemed to be completely functional.

Just as he was trying to come to term with the bizarre sight, though…the girl blinked and turned around, her beautiful green eyes looking at them and, finally, crossing with his own black ones.

Time seemed to stop (Metaphorically, not actually as he knew his powers could) for an instant for both of them, Kirito feeling his heart skipping a beat for some unknown reason as he found something hauntingly 'familiar' within the angel's eyes, even more than the armor she was wearing. For her part, the so-called angel's face warped into a myriad of emotions, her eyes suddenly feeling with tears.

And then, she shot towards him with open arms at brutal speeds, hitting him so fast he was actually swept off his feet and lost nearly a quarter of his HP as he was raised in the air. Not even able to recover his virtual breath, the boy suddenly found himself being squeezed against the girl's bosom (Or at least the armor covering it).

The gamer vaguely heard Argo and Asuna crying out his name and starting to run towards them, probably ready to attack the strange enemy, even if at the very least the former had to know how overpowered the thing she was wearing was, if it was even remotely similar to the original…

"Onii-chan! Finally…I finally found you, Kazuto-oniichan!"

And then Kirito completely froze, his mind short-circuiting as, slowly, he managed to raise his face to look at the girl's smiling and tear-stained face.

"Wha…? Su…Sugu? Is that you, Sugu?"

"Yes…yes, it's me, Onii-chan." whispered the blonde girl while her smile grew so much he could have sworn it was going to blind him. "And I'm never going to leave you again."

Then, she kissed him, with the intensity of two years of grief-stained love and sincere longing, spinning them in the air as she did so.

Down below, Kirito heard Argo choke on nothing and Asuna let go of her rapier, STARING at how the girl calling him by his real name and calling him 'big brother' (And wasn't it funny he just so happened to have vaguely mentioned his little sister to everyone not long ago, back in Floor 22?) kept _kissing_ him.

…oh woah, how long had it been since the last time he felt this 'I hate my life'-feeling?

 **[You gained 230 Affection Points with Heroine Suguha!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Lovey Dovey Siblings/Cousins' has been maxed! Upgraded to 'Always with You'!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Always with You' has been maxed! Upgraded to 'Destined One'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have reached the last level of a Heroine's Route! You will unlock a Special Event if you max this level!]**

…not long enough, apparently.

In the middle of all that 'localized chaos', though…none of the present players noticed a shadow stalking them from the trees, her red eyes fixed on the seemingly despairing boy…

* * *

"…and that's why you shouldn't have been doing such reckless things by yourselves!" scolded Klein while looking down on the embarrassed and kneeling forms of Dynamm and Dale, the rest of Fuurinkazan (Plus Sachi and Yui) standing behind him with mixed expressions. "It's bad enough that you broke our unofficial rule of not going anywhere with a Party smaller than 3 members and had a close call with some weird Event Boss, you then had to run here and made a fool of yourselves!"

"W-we're sorry, Klein…"

"Ye-yeah, it won't happen again…"

"Man…you rarely get to see this, but Klein-san can get pretty mad sometimes, uh?" commented the spear-user with a troubled look.

"That's Klein for you. He may be very laidback and even a bit of a goof most of the time, but he takes the safety of all his friends like the most serious thing in the world." smiled Yuna with a smile. "It makes one feel proud of being a Fuurinkazan member!"

"Klein is truly someone dedicated to his friends." added Nautilus with a smile as they saw the samurai-wannabe help his two friends stand up and enveloping them in a 'manly hug', saying that all was forgiven but that they shouldn't ever worry him like that again. "I aspire to be half the man he is one day."

"Oh, don't say, that Ei…that is, Nautilus-kun." grinned Yuna while playfully elbowing her childhood friend's arm. "After all, you're already the best friend any girl could want!"

"…critical hit, Yuna-mama." nonchalantly commented Yui while everyone blinked in confusion as the light brown-haired boy fell to the ground all fours, a 'dead smile' plastered on his face. "Hmm, I wonder if psychological warfare could be a good way to destroy the future…?"

"Yui-chan…I know you convinced us all we shouldn't, but I can't help but worry every time you say something like that." sweatdropped Sachi while patting the AI's head, making her hum happily. "Like when you suggested making evil copies of super-powerful warriors that did your biding…"

"What I'm actually worried about is about Kirito and the rest." commented Klein while walking at them, leaning down and helping Nautilus to his feet while giving him a manly back-pat and letting the defeated-looking young man lean against him. "We don't even know what the thing Dynamm and Dale saw was, except that it looked pretty strong! What if they need help?!"

"They're not idiots, Klein. If they need any help, they will obviously withdraw." calmly spoke Kizmel as she entered the bar, the 3 missing members of Unison Heart just behind her. "Kirito won't let anything happen to them and vice versa, after all."

"Yeah, just like Kizmel says, don't worry so much." grinned Lisbeth while energetically raising an arm. "If anything, we should be getting ready in case they come back needing help!"

"Yes, for all we know Kirito-san and the others may need us to get a whole Raid ready to fight against this mysterious field Boss!" declared Silica with clear excitement while jumping from side to side, ready for anything, while Pina 'roared' her approval from outside the bar. "Don't you think so, Lux-san?!"

"…uhm, I was actually wondering what all that ruckus is about." confessed the silver-haired girl while everyone blinked, finally hearing the commotion somewhere in the distance. "It's coming from the town's entrance, I think…"

"…did someone out there just said 'angel'?" questioned Yuna with a frown as she looked towards the window.

"…forget that, did someone just say the big-breasted angel is glued to the Goddamned Ladies Man Swordsman's back?" specified the group's blacksmith with a flat tone.

Three seconds of silence ensued before the members of Unison Heart and Yuna rushed out of the shop as fast as they could run. All of Fuurinkazan quickly followed cue.

Yui took her sweet time skipping after them, though, humming about flowers and the complete destruction of the future as she did so.

The moment the mixed group arrived at the massive plaza where the Teleportation Gate and entrance of Arc Sophia were, they froze upon seeing a quite…'strange' sight.

Well, no. Honestly, seeing a girl glued to Kirito's back and smiling happily was beyond normal these days for any Front Liner in Aincrad. Thing is, though, he usually was smiling nonchalantly when that happened.

Not only he was instead sporting a nervous-wrecked look as everyone around whispered and pointed between awed, jealous or annoyed, but there was also the fact that the girl hugging him wasn't anyone they knew. And that she was probably as beautiful as Asuna was, with a figure that, despite the armor covering her, clearly put even Kizmel's to shame.

She was also wearing an armor based on an overpowered humanoid war machine that anyone old or otaku enough could recognize (Even a Non-Japanese like Agil), which apparently allowed her to fly (If her legs happily kicking the air as she seemed to slightly raise the boy were anything to go by), but that fact seemed secondary for most females around.

"…that's the mechanical angel of the forest." mumbled Dale with clear disbelief.

"…Klein, I apologize for all the things I doubted or called you an idiot in the past, you were completely right." Spoke Dynamm with a completely straight face. "Kirito is a God amongst men."

"Yes…yes he is, my friend." manly cried Klein with a look of resigned despair, even as Nautilus wordlessly handed him a tissue. "Snif, thanks bro…"

"No problem, Klein…"

"…you all DO know I can perfectly hear you, right? What with you standing just 6 meters over there." flatly declared Kirito with a clear look of nervous annoyance because of their words.

Or maybe it was because of how Asuna and Argo were standing behind him and his 'hanger on', giving him the flattest and coldest looks anyone could ever remember seeing on their faces. At least not since they had openly accepted their feelings.

"…hey everyone, we're back." 'greeted' the rapier-user with an emotionless tone.

"S-so we see, Asuna…" mumbled Yuna with an unnerved tone, unsure of what to think as she saw her kinda-husband refusing to meet their gazes as the mysterious blonde kept glued to his back, seemingly off in her own little world. "A-and who is that?"

"Kii-bou's little sister." answered Argo in the same empty tone, making everyone blink in utter surprise.

"…EH?!"

"Kirito has a little sister?! Man, she's hot!"

"Tha-that's his 'little' sister?! What the hell?!"

"Wa-wait, why does she look like a Gundam Otaku's wet dream, then?!"

"…do siblings in your world act so affectionate with each other? Because she's showering his head in kisses…"

"No, Kii-chan…they don't."

"…oh."

"…God amongst men."

"KLEIN, SHUT THE HELL UP!"

Half an hour later, a tired-looking Kirito was sitting on the bed of the biggest room in Arc Sophia's main Inn (The closest they have gotten to a 'private' place in such a short time), looking as if he wished to be once again fighting Kayaba.

At his side (And only not sitting on the bed with him because her wings wouldn't have let her), a confused-looking Leafa was staring from him to the many girls that were in the room there and that had been interrogating her adopted brother with a familiarity that made her felt unusually possessive for the least 20 minutes, given the personal nature of the questions and his lack of hesitation in answering, despite her surprise/protests.

They somehow acted even closer than SHE had been with him during that magical last month before he got trapped in that crazy virtual world.

"…so, she's actually your cousin, because your biological parents died when you were 1-year-old and your mother's sister adopted you." summarized Argo with a…decidedly more lively tone than before, even if she now seemed thoroughly annoyed. "And you never thought of mentioning this because…?"

"Real world matters were barely brought up at all between everyone here, Argo. Hell, we didn't even know our real names until last month." reminded the boy with an honest if exhausted tone, which made everyone exchange reluctant looks of understanding. "And then everything with planning to take on Kayaba happened, then the damn 'Glitch', and so and so on…"

"Yeah, okay, things have truly been more than hectic lately, we can't really deny that." conceded Asuna while massing the sides of her head, looking quite resigned. "And you _did_ mention you had a sister since long ago, we just never asked for details…"

"I think that's Asuna's way of saying we understand it's not your fault." helpfully supplied Lux with an understanding smile, even as the rapier-user looked away with clear embarrassment. "I mean, it's not as if all of us have actually sat down to share the details of our families with each other, right?"

All the girls present that had been in SAO since the beginning exchanged embarrassed/nervous glances at that. Though no one quite as much as the chestnut-haired one, who decidedly seemed to not want to even think of such a subject.

"Okay then, we all agree this isn't really Kirito's fault. That's one thing down." accepted Lisbeth with an awkward chuckle. "Now we need to think how we're going to deal with thi…"

"Excuse me…I don't want to be rude, but are you all ignoring me?" questioned a slightly annoyed Leafa, reminding everyone that she was, in fact, in there with them. "Look, I'm sure you're all saying something that's very deep and important, but I really need to know…who are you all? Since when were you friends with Onii-chan?"

"Ehm…well, Sugu…you see, they are…" started to say Kirito, clearly trying to find an accurate and sensible way of explaining things to his adoptive sister, whose feelings for him had apparently shot up drastically during their two years separated…

"We're his wives. Well, kinda, the technical term is Forever Bonded in my race's ritual, but everyone else seems to consider it that more or less." nonchalantly revealed Kizmel without any shame, as everyone should honestly have expected she would while still being in the room.

Several seconds passed as everyone gaped at the Dark Elf while the blonde girl just blinked her way. Then, she, ever so slowly, turned to look at each and every girl in the room, who felt a strange shiver run down their souls as she did so, before her eyes finally settled on the paralyzed form of her adopted brother. She blinked.

"Ah…wives…oh…heheh…that's…" muttered the Gundam-armored player before she shook in place, her eyes seeming to twitch, close and her breathing to quicken in a very worrying way even as her wings flapped dangerously. "Eheheheheheh…!"

"Uhm…Leafa-san…are you okay?" asked Silica with worry while slowly backing down towards the window, most of the girls also taking a precautionary step back.

"Fine…yes! I'm…perfectly fine!" smiled Leafa with an extremely forced look, her whole body seemingly shaking in place…as 'something' seemed to open on the clavicle-section of her armor, making everyone freeze again.

"…are those freaking Gatling guns?!" all but shouted Yuna while slamming back-first against the door, her eyes fixed on the relatively small, if still deadly-looking, firearms.

"The Gu-Gundam Wing Zero has 2 Machine Cannons mounted there, yeah!" squeaked Argo while staring wide-eyed into the four-barreled machineguns.

"Su-Sugu, calm down! What are you doing?!" all but shouted Kirito while holding onto one of the shaking girl's wings, worry, and confusion filling his voice.

"A-ah…? AH! So-sorry…I don't…I didn't, those opened on their own…I just…Onii-chan…so many girls…ahahahah…!"

"…I'm no expert, but I think that girl is having a mental breakdown!" pointed out Lisbeth with an unnerved look as her back hit the closest wall. "Also, do we even know if her impossible armor's weapons respect the system's Safe Zones?"

A panicked silence ensued while everyone looked from the blacksmith to the unstable girl wearing what probably was the most overpowered equipment in Aincrad, her adopted brother still trying to keep her in place…

"FELINE CHOP!"

…and then something invisible and soundless slammed her down, pinning her wings against the ground and her back as she thrashed wildly, Kirito also falling down out of shock.

"Wha-what is this?! What's happening…?! Can't…move…!"

"…woah, okay, talk about quick reactions. Good going, Sachi." sighed Asuna with relief as everyone stopped holding their breaths.

"N-no problem! She's crazy strong, but Night Kitty is holding her down and she can't do much against that!" informed Sachi while standing near the fallen duo and unnecessarily raising her arms in their direction, as if thinking her 'Guardian Spirit' would have an easier time if she did so.

"Gah! Sugu! Okay, calm down, you…! Uh?"

"…oh, she fainted." pointed out Kizmel while kneeling beside the now unmoving Leafa, the spear-user gasping in shock while releasing the hold of her Night Kitty over her. "I think you overreacted a little, though. Sure, she was confused, but she wasn't really going to harm us…"

"Kii-chan, no offense, but you don't understand how deadly that thing she's wearing is." commented Argo while everyone walked closer,

"Perhaps no, but I could see many things in her eyes: There was confusion, hurt, fear…but no real ill-intent. And I saw how she was looking at Kirito earlier; with a lot of deep and sincere love and affection…she's clearly not someone that would hurt others for a misunderstanding." honestly spoke the Dark Elf, making everyone look at her in awe.

"…help me get her on the bed…uhm…facedown, I guess…?" mumbled Kirito once he had recovered from the surprise.

A few minutes later, the black-haired boy that was, arguably, the strongest Player of Aincrad slumped against the wall of another room, burying his face on his hands while wondering why he had to tempt Fate by thinking everything would be easier.

"…so, just asking…did you know your sister/cousin had it so badly for you before SAO?" casually asked Argo from where she was leaning against the door, looking at him with a mix of sympathy and worry.

"She didn't. Well, kind of…ugh, okay, I was…a terrible brother and a very antisocial person in general ever since I discovered I was adopted, okay? Then, one month after SAO I had this…epiphany, you could call it, and I tried to fix things by being the best brother I could for Sugu. Started treating her nicer than ever, taking an interest in the things she liked, talking to hear every time I could, taking her out to places…" as he listed off everything got lost in those memories, the gamer couldn't stop a smile from blossoming in his face. "By the time I realized I had unintentionally made her develop an innocent crush on me, I was literally one day away from SAO. Honestly, I half-forgot and half-hoped that she would forget such feelings after all this time, but…"

"But instead it seems that being at your bedside every day while seeing you waste away for two years made them increase to the point she's willing to jump into a Death game to try and save you." simply replied the Info Broker before groaning, walking to her kinda-husband's side and helping him up. "Look, Kii-bou…I can't even be mad at you for this. Yeah, if I was a jealous bitch perhaps I could think it's your fault, and in a roundabout way it kind of is, but…you're not a perverted weird idiot. You're MY…that is, OUR awesome weird idiot, and the only person I can really believe made his adoptive sister fall in love with him to this anime-like point by just trying to be a better brother.

"Argo…have I ever told you how I totally don't deserve you?" asked the boy with a much more peaceful look than before. "Or any of the others?"

"You don't say it enough, really, but then again we stubbornly deny it anyway." threw back the whiskered girl before standing on her tiptoes and giving him a quick kiss, her eyes moving to the side as she heard a familiar chime. "…now go back there and help that poor girl calm down, okay? The others just texted me saying she woke up and they got her to calm down and out of that armor of hers."

"Really?! Woah, they sure work fast…wait, none of them is injured, right?"

"Relax, Kii-bou, Kii-chan was right. They say she's very…subdued, not to say depressed, but she didn't try to hurt anyone…well, except for Silica anyway, but that was unintentional" waved it off Argo, grinning at the gamer's confusion. "Turns out, your little sister is as stacked as the armor makes it look, and she wasn't wearing any underwear when they took it off. Poor Silica-chan couldn't handle it so Lux and Liz got her out of there first to prevent her getting depressed to death."

"…I would tell you I really didn't need to be told all those details, but I know that wouldn't help at all." sighed Kirito while standing up, not even trying to hide the bright blush on his face. "Okay then…I'm going."

"Go wild, the others already left her alone for everyone's sake…but, oh, Kii-bou?" called out the whiskered girl with a troubled look, making the boy look at her inquisitively. "We all love you, so we won't judge you, but…try not to hurt her too much, okay? Poor girl probably is in a lot of pain right now."

Nodding once for all answer, the gamer walked out of the room, wordlessly walking to the opposite end of the hallway and, after taking another deep breath, entering.

His breath was completely stolen away once again.

Clad now in a simple white nightgown, her hair down and falling on her back like a sun-colored waterfall, Leafa looked perhaps even more stunning than she had before. So much that Kirito actually lost notion of the time he simply stood there, staring at her dumbfounded, before an awkward cough brought him back to reality.

"A-are you just going to stand there all day, Onii-chan?" asked the blonde girl with a bright blush, though clearly refusing to meet his gaze. "It's…awkward."

"I…sorry, I was just…" giving up on trying to make up an excuse, the black-haired boy simply closed the door and walked to sit beside her. "Your Avatar…looks beautiful, guess I couldn't help but stare."

"…we-well, I know I'm not as pre-pretty myself, but I have grown up a lot since you last saw me!" fervently declared the fairy-like beauty while clenching her fists. "I'm taller, a-and I have started taking more care of my hair, and I even won this year's kendo nationals!"

"Yo-you did?! Woah, congratulations!" smiled the gamer with honest happiness. "I knew you would be able to do something amazing like that, Sugu!"

For a moment, Leafa's gaze finally met his, making his heart freeze at the mix of longing and hurt reflected there, overwhelmed slowly by a warm happiness as she reached out to touch his cheek.

"All that time…every time, every day, I dreamed…of what would it be like when I saw you again. I had so many things planned, so many things I was going to tell you…then I had the crazy idea that I would come here to 'rescue' you and…" looking down, the blonde girl let her hand fall. "Gods, I was so stupid…"

"Su-Sugu, don't say that…"

"But it's the truth! If it had actually been something noble and honest like me trying to save you because of how scared I was of you dying perhaps it would have a smidgen of justification…but that was never the main reason. Deep inside, I knew it was because I wanted you…to hold you as you held me back and told me everything had been worth it." sobbed Leafa while covering her face with her hands. "I…I can't even start insulting you or calling you bad things for basically making yourself a Harem here, no matter how much I want to, because that would make me a selfish and hypocritical bitch!"

"STOP!" shouted Kirito while lashing out and catching the crying girl in his arms, embracing her as hard as he could, taking advantage of the virtual world's lack of pain. "Please…don't cry, Sugu."

"O-Onii-chan…?" mumbled the otherworldly fairy in shock, even as she tried to keep her heart from jumping out of her chest at how warm and comforting his chest felt.

"I…this is my fault, Sugu. You're only feeling like that because I screwed up trying to do the right thing." declared the black-haired boy while softly touching Leafa's chin and making her look at him. "Sugu…you're beautiful, and I'm not talking just about your avatar, but of the real you. I know that firsthand and I also know you're a great girl. I love you a lot, my little sister, but believe me, you deserve much better than an idiot that never looked at you like the gorgeous girl you are before…"

"…and now?" interrupted the blonde girl with a sense of trepidation, making the gamer blink and look at her. "Right now, if you were to look at me like a girl…what would you say?"

Meanwhile, on the bar that served as the Inn's floor, the girls that formed the majority of Unison Heart, and one Fuurinkazan member, were finishing explaining the whole complex thing to a curious-looking Yui.

"I see…papa really is someone amazing in a lot of ways, uh?" commented the young AI while writing down something about time-travel's viability as a medium to destroy the future.

"You can say that again, I guess." sighed Yuna while resting her head on the table in an unusually lazy way for her. "I don't even want to know how I'm going to explain the basics of this to the rest of my guild…"

"Let alone the rest of the Front Liners. It IS kind of a big deal that an unknown girl wearing Gundam armor showed up out of nowhere hanging from Kirito's back in open view of everyone." reminded Sachi with an awkward look while almost everyone groaned. "So-sorry…"

"Don't apologize for saying the truth, Sachi, no one will ever demand that of you. At least, we should be happy that this got solved relatively well for us and that poor girl…" commented Argo, before frowning and looking up towards the ceiling. "Still…I wonder if she's okay? Kii-bou has been up there with her an awfully longer time than I thought he would…"

"…you don't think Kirito-kun said something stupid that seriously hurt her, right?" asked Asuna with sudden apprehension, feeling how terrible the young girl would feel if that happened.

"Heh, knowing Kirito, there is a bigger chance he charmed her for real and they're now expressing their love happily." nonchalantly commented Kizmel while taking a sip of her drink.

Slowly, everyone turned to STARE at the Dark Elf, who looked back at them with a quizzical smile.

Then, everyone in the bar looked back in confusion as a stampede of girls rushed upstairs as if their lives depended on it, most chairs they had been sitting on now lying on the floor, much to Agil's annoyance.

With eerie calmness, the former Knight of the Elf Queen stood up and followed after her fellow Destiny-Bonded, casually sipping more of her drink.

"…I will help put them up again, Agil-san!" called out Yui without even turning around, engrossed writing something about targeting emotional bonds.

"…thanks, Yui-chan."

Surprisingly, the first to arrive at the door was actually Lux, who hesitated for a moment before all but being slammed into it by everyone rushing behind her, literally crashing it open.

Everyone was greeted by a first-row seat of Leafa straddling Kirito on the bed, both of them making out fiercely like there was no tomorrow, their hands very likely triggering many Anti-Harassment pop-ups.

Of course, they both froze the moment the door slammed open, their gazes slowly moving towards the blank stares most of the other girls were sending them.

Kizmel chose that moment to calmly walk behind the group of paralyzed girls, give the room a look as she finished her drink and then give her kinda-husband a proud smile.

"Good work, Kirito. You completely cheered her up!"

Even as his blushing adoptive sister rolled to hide her face upon the bed's pillow, the black-haired boy couldn't help but groan.

He didn't know what he hated more, how much of a pervert he was becoming or how it seemed that Fate just loved to keep screwing with him.

On Its Throne Above Everything, a certain Absolute One felt the vague inkling It was being blamed for something that, for once, It hadn't done. [FATE] didn't care.

Now, if only those damned 'little sisters' of It would stop laughing together so much. That was Omniversally Wrong on so many levels…

* * *

"Kirito, please…teach me!"

"Klein, please, leave me alone."

Such was the 'conversation' taking place in one of Arc Sophia's massive streets later that day, the sun slowly starting its descent towards the horizon. There, the black-haired boy was going so hunched over his cloak was being half-dragged through the ground, even as the red-clad samurai-wannabe continued following him, like he had been doing for the last 20 minutes.

It was bad enough that, for everyone's sake, he had decided to let the girls alone with Leafa for the rest of the day so they could tell her more or less about the current situation in Aincrad and…other things.

Honestly, the gamer felt extremely confused. He probably should feel guilty over what he had done, but with how… _right_ kissing Sugu (Or Leafa while they were there, he supposed) had felt, it made things very difficult. He didn't know if it was because he was a pervert or because of something deeper related to his weird power, but there was no denying he didn't feel bad about the intimate moment with his adoptive sister/cousin.

Kirito knew he SHOULD, though. After all, he had technically cheated on his girlfriends/kinda-wives by doing that…at least he thought so. To be honest, their 'relationship' was one big crazy and complicated mess that kept itself together because of how honestly they loved each other in a lot of ways. A year ago such an open notion would have thrown the boy's mind completely off-balance, but nowadays it was just one of the many crazy facts of his life.

He may have known Sugu for longer, but he definitively hadn't felt like that for her until that moment. It would be selfish of him to even dare to ask the others for such a thing…which was the reason why he had agreed with the non-verbal cue to get out of there as they tried to 'sort things out'.

The gamer didn't want to hurt them, he would earlier cut his own arms before that, but he didn't want them to hurt Sugu either. Getting away where he wouldn't need to worry about 'anything' beyond feeling his own thoughts on the matter driving him mad seemed like a fitting 'punishment'…but he could _really_ do without Klein adding to his problems with his stupid request.

"Please, Kirito, help out a bro here!" continued the leader of Fuurinkazan with an almost pleading tone, causing Kirito to sigh and stop to look at him. "I will surely be able to get a girlfriend if I manage to learn even a simple thing from you! I mean, pretty girls are falling from the sky on your arms at this point!"

"Okay, Klein, stop there, you're taking this too far." growled the black-haired boy as he felt his patience start running thin. "Girls aren't falling from the sky on my…!"

A sudden ear-shattering sound made both players cover their ears in pain, the gazes of everyone on the street shooting upwards in time to see how the air 'rippled open', a distortion in space letting everyone see some weird void filled with Error Screens and countless groups of 0s and 1s…which them 'spit out' an unconscious female figure clad in black and red.

For some reason, the gamer was the only one out of all the witnesses to react in time, all but rushing forward and opening his arms in time for the fainted girl to land perfectly in time, grunting slightly at the effort.

Immediately, Kirito's eyes checked her over to see if there was anything wrong with her, which caused him to blush instantly upon doing so. The mysterious dark-haired girl had thin hair tied in small ribbons by the sides of her face, with the back cut short. There was nothing wrong with that.

What had made the boy slightly lose his composure, however, was the borderline scandalous attire she was wearing: Black 'armor' covered (More like 'hugged') her chest and hips in a way more befitting of underwear than anything else, which was complemented by pieces of black material that covered her legs to just above her knees but left most off her inner thighs exposed, for some reason, and a pair of boots of the same color and material (Which stopped slightly under her knees). On her arms, red cloth covered from her wrists to her armpits, being held in place by apparently more black 'metal' which also tied up one of the two remaining parts of her 'outfit': Two 'capes', one seemingly half-broken and red on the inside and black on the outside, coming over her back, while the other surrounded her hips but left the front of her legs and 'armor' completely exposed.

All in all, the gamer felt as if he was holding a character that had come out from some ecchi fantasy series than a person.

Of course, it was as that thought ran through his mind that the strange girl's dark eyes opened, fixed upon him, and…

"…are you my Master?"

"…what?" flatly questioned Kirito with utter disbelief.

"…uh?! Wh-why did I say that? Who are you?! Where am I?! Wh…why can't I remember my name?!" shouted her as she seemed to become fully awake, clearly panicked. "And…what the hell am I wearing?!"

As he tried to think of a way to calm down the clearly panicking girl and ignore the crowd forming around them, the black-haired boy really wished to simply have stayed back dealing with the awkwardness of the situation with everyone else.

Especially when Klein fell to his knees at his side and did a full dogeza aiming at him.

"Please, teach this unworthy one your ways, grandmaster."

…Goddammit Klein.

Unknown to the crowd, though, a red-eyed figure watched silently from a nearby alley, her eyes never leaving the curious scene…

* * *

"Selective amnesia? Are you fucking serious right now?" asked Argo with a frankly annoyed look in her face.

Don't get her wrong, the whiskered girl was usually a way more open, teasing and relaxed person, especially since she had accepted her feelings for the idiotic boy before her and they had all 'formalized' their wacky relationship, but the whole deal with his sister/cousin had put them all off-balance and was still being sorted out.

So now being told that a girl clad like some +18 character had fell from the heavens directly on him and then apparently revealed being affected by one of the greatest clichés in media wasn't exactly amusing.

At least she wasn't trying to hang from her boyfriend/kinda-husband's back like the Gundam-armored 'fairy' had done when she first showed up (She was currently just standing there near Liz, Silica, and Lux, who seemed to have gotten along surprisingly well with her in the few hours they had interacted). Instead, the mysterious 'Sinon' (Who was only using the name after she read it on her Menu and it felt 'right', in her words) was sitting on a bench in Arc Sophia's main plaza while refusing to look at any of them and trying to use her not-cape to cover herself better.

On that note, Argo didn't know if to curse Cardinal or Internet Memes for the fact that her 'armor' apparently had a Defense Stat so high it gave a run for their money to most full-plate armor sets of the current Front Liners.

"I'm telling you, it's no joke." muttered Kirito while glancing nervously from the girl to his guild, Fuurinkazan, and his adoptive sister. "Klein already confirmed it, but when she reacted she was like that already, so…"

"This isn't funny for me either, you know?!" half-shouted the dark-haired girl while glaring at him, before once again cowering on herself as everyone's attention centered on her. "Kuh…bad enough is that I somehow have ended up in Sword Art Online and that I can't remember how or my name, I don't need people thinking I'm crazy on top of that!"

"Sinon-san, the thing is, you seem to remember an awful lot of specific things, so please forgive Argo-san for sounding so skeptical." apologized Silica while walking forward in what she hoped it was a calming stance (And being one of the ones clad in the weirdest 'armor' out of the group probably helped a bit), even if Pina towering behind her didn't really help. "Can't you remember at least what you were doing before ending here?"

"Huh?" mumbled Sinon in response before looking down, frowning, as she abandoned her attempts to better cover herself. "I…was…"

For a moment, Aincrad's latest 'uninvited guest' stood still, her gaze seemingly lost as a flash of 'something', still images and text, shot through her mind.

"….just finished the prologue, the one with the invisible sword standing menacingly over us…"

"…what?" asked Sachi what everyone was thinking, confusion filling their faces as they stared at the blinking girl.

"I…I'm sorry, I don't know what the hell I just said, it just…appeared on my mind." muttered Sinon before looking down with slight fear.

"…I know we don't really have any medical care in this world, but we should probably see about helping her somehow." finally spoke Asuna before walking to the girl's side and helping her stand, much to the stranger's shock. "For now, how about we get you somewhere you can lie down to rest, Sinon-san? Is getting late."

"A-ah, thanks…uhm…"

"Asuna. And don't worry, we will find out what happened to you for sure."

Everyone present knew there was no real basis or logic to back up those words, probably even Asuna herself. And yet, no one was able to correct or deny her when they saw the relief flickering through the weirdly-dressed outsider as she held her hand and stood up.

"Tha-thanks, Asuna…"

"She's right, Sinon, don't worry. No matter what, we will get to the bottom of this." also promised Kirito while putting a hand on the chestnut-haired girl's shoulder, only to blink at the suspicious look Sinon was sending him. "Hey, what's up with that look? I'm serious here! I would have thought catching you when you fell from the sky would at least give me some credibi…"

Those were the black-haired boy's last words anyone heard that day. Suddenly, the world seemed to 'glitch' once and, with the hauntingly familiar sound of a Forced Teleportation, the gamer vanished from the plaza without a trace.

Everyone stood there, frozen in shock, only a wide-eyed Sinon gaping and pointing with fright to the point where Kirito had been standing.

"I…I take it that's not normal?"

For another second, no one answered. And then…

"KIRITO!"

"ONII-CHAN?!"

"Where is he?! Where did he go?!"

"Shi-shit, was that a forced teleportation?! Fuurinkazan, spread out, we need to…!"

"Wh…what the hell is this?! His location…doesn't appear on the Friend List?! Kii-bou!"

"WHAT?!"

And as chaos descended upon Arc Sophia, the mysterious stalker with red eyes ran, also searching for the missing boy, an almost beast-like quality to her steps as she hunted…

* * *

The sound of polygons rushing into place filled the semi-silent forest out of nowhere, a figure in a silver cloak appearing there as he finished his words…

"…lity to…eh?" blinking, Kirito looked around, staring in confusion at the forest. "I…what? How the hell did I get…?!"

Whatever else he would have said was drowned by his instincts screaming at him to dodge. By instinct, the black-haired boy's hand shot towards his back and unsheathed Elder Emperor, spinning around as he jumped to the side in time for his blade to crash against another weapon.

The clank of steel crashing seemed to be muted by the sound of his body being forced back almost a meter, much to his shock. Wide-eyed, he stared at a clearly female figure wearing a sharp-looking dark armor, with lots of unnecessary spikes on her shoulders, and an unholy cross between what seemed like a dagger and the fang of a monster in her hand.

Also, her eyes were on fire, for some reason, and the face that would probably be cute under normal circumstances was a mix of desperate fear and resignation, her light-orange short hair seeming to ripple with power for a moment.

"Another one?! No matter…I will throw you aside too! You won't get me, you heard me?!"

"Wait, wait, wait, time-out!" screamed the gamer as the armored girl screamed and slammed her monster-dagger down towards him, his empty hand lashing out towards its flat side in a shining punch.

The Martial Arts Skill crashed against the weapon and both attacks canceled each other, sending the tumbling pair back, both of them filled with shock.

For Kirito, it was because this was the first time any human-sized enemy had been able to directly match one of his Skills when Boosted by his cloak's unfair Buff. Just how strong was this girl?! For her, though…

"You…you're…not like them. Are you…are you…another player?" questioned the orange-haired girl with a mix of fear and hope.

Also, the boy idly noted, her eyes weren't on fire anymore, letting their beautiful light-blue color to be seen.

"Yes, my name is Kirito. I was on Floor 76 until a moment ago, so…where the hell am I?" asked the confused gamer with relief, sensing no more hostility coming from her. "And who are y…?'"

Once again, Kirito fell silent, though this time out of his own shock. And it was not because of the Orange cursor visible over the girl's head, identifying her as a 'criminal' in the system's eyes, no.

It was because of the shining golden ring that could be seen in her right hand, sinister words in some unknown language seeming to burn like fire around its surface.

"M-my name is Philia…and…you don't know how glad I'm to see someone like you right now." confessed the now identified Philia while sagging in relief.

"O-okay, that's great to know and all, bu-but…hey, is that thing in your hand…?"

Even as the world kept denying him the chance to finish any sentence for the last hour, the black-haired boy froze as what looked like the slightly smaller cousin of the Skull Reaper landed beside the two of them, making the orange-haired girl curse as she turned to it.

Also, the sudden sound of several 'somethings' getting closer.

"Oh no! They found me again!"

Slowly, the gamer turned around, now able to see clearly beyond the trees as the Skull Reaper-like Boss had knocked a few of them over when doing so.

The first thing he noticed was the sky. Or, to be more precise, that he could see all of it without issue, not a trace of the next Floor on it, like it should be in all of Aincrad except for Floor 100.

Second was that the sky was covered by black clouds through which reddish light seemed to illuminate everything in a depressing glow. With even some occasional thunderbolts on the horizon.

All of that, sadly, seemed slightly secondary compared with the several figures clad in black full-body hoods that completely hid their faces from the world, swords in hand.

"…you are fucking kidding me." muttered the black-haired boy while his eyes twitched.

"Kirito, was it?! We need to work together!" screamed Philia while standing back-to-back with him, her wicked weapon shaking slightly as she took several deep breaths and The Ring in her hand shone brighter. "Get ready!"

 **[Kotone Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Takemiya Kotone!]**

 **[Your current status with Kotone has changed to 'Someone amongst No Ones'!]**

Unable to do anything but nod dumbly as he readied Elder Emperor and looked from the field Boss to the dark figures, Kirito couldn't help but think that at least the situation could be much worse.

…and then his eyes fell upon Philia's 'Dating Summary' above her head.

 **[Takemiya Kotone: _'The Lady of the Ring'_ ]**

 **[Relationship Status: Someone amongst No Ones]**

 **[Affection Points: 0/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: LOCKED BY 'HOLLOW AREA' EXTRA STORYLINE]**

…life just couldn't stop screwing with him, right?

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Secret Areas mean Secret Heroines

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Nah Kirito, it's both her and Death XP Also, welcome to the Hollow Area, the darkest land in the virtual world. Hope you survive the experience :3

Well, that was a bunch of craziness after craziness, just like I told you, eh? We got 3 new characters introduced officially, with one more lurking in the shadows, and each one brings a new batch of madness to 'poor' Kirito's life! Best Imouto is back with her Onii-chan where she belongs, but will she able to fit amongst his kinda-wives? Will she be able to show she WAS, indeed, his powers' 'First Heroine'? Time will tell…and a lot of Gundam-like action too XD

Hope you liked my adaptation to the details Hollow Fragment gave for how she got into SAO, both to fit this crazy Universe and to make some sense in how they were explained. I did the same for Sinon, though the details about her are being held back on purpose to add more mystery to her 'situation' (How many of you can guess something with just what she's wearing and what she said before it's officially revealed :P?). Also, Kirito didn't unlock her Route yet because, as it should be obvious, hers are the hardest-to-trigger Flags OxO

Speaking of that, regarding Kirito's 'Aura' Stat that people complained we hadn't seen, there you have it! It's, basically, just a joke to point out how, as we all know, Kirito was a natural chick magnet even without reality-bending Eroge Protagonist-powers, even more so in the Gameverse. And his 'power' has just made that grow exponentially stronger, which is causing…all this mayhem OwO

And good old Philia! As you see, she has…had both an easier and a much harder time than the original Philia in this place. More details about that, next time, as two unlikely allies fight their way through the virtual land of madness and darkness, and a Hunter makes herself known…

But that's for some time later! For now, tune in next time in Lusus Naturae to have fun :D

Until then, this is Saint, signing off!


	10. Scene 9: Secret Areas - Secret Heroines

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my craziest and most popular fic of the moment, a series of silly and bizarre events happening to a certain Eroge Protagonist :P!

Once again, let me thank you all for your support, my dear readers. We went over the 600 review mark last chapter and have more than surpassed 1000 favorites and followers! The Eroge rocks :3! Hopefully you can keep enjoying this madness till the end!

As always, remember that help filling out this story's TvTropes page is greatly appreciated :D With that said, though, I leave you all with the latest chapter!

 **PS:** Chapter betaed once again by Pikatwins! Thanks again pal :3!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 9: Secret Areas mean Secret Heroines**

 **November 14th, 2024. Hollow Area, Aincrad. Area 1-Sea of Trees, 18:05…**

Kirigaya Kazuto, better known as Kirito within the virtual world, liked to think his life had recently started to recover a semblance of 'normalcy'.

Sure, he was still a teenager with reality-breaking dating sim powers trapped in a Death Game with over half a dozen girlfriends/kinda-wives; but that aside, there were no bizarre incidents taking place lately. There were many things to worry about and look around for, but it had been surprisingly 'relaxing', he and the girls having time to just enjoy each other company despite the worries about how they could escape SAO.

No crazy monsters belonging to completely different games, no unexpected events that somehow led to him meeting more girls, his powers barely even having brought 'Choices' to him lately…and everyone had all but learned to ignore the fact that Sachi had an Honest-to-Gods Stand!

Which is why his current situation, jumping on and then running up the back of a roaring skeleton centipede from hell while clashing swords with two fucking Nazgul, of all things, while a girl wearing armor scarily similar to motherfucking Sauron's and possessing the True Ring fought with more of the dark specters near them, had him 'slightly' upset (Read as 'about to tear off his virtual hair while screaming').

To be fair, though, these things weren't 'really' Nazgul. And he wasn't saying that just because they were in the virtual world, no. The boy said this because, unlike the well-known Ring-wraiths, these things actually had normal faces. At least from what he had seen once they had gotten up close and personal to try and kill him; he had managed to glimpse the lower half of the two he was fighting against.

The fact that they still were fully geared like one and didn't say anything wasn't really helping convince himself, though. Also, the Boss over which they were fighting right now (Which thankfully was _much_ weaker than the original Skull Reaper had been) was now stampeding towards a cliff face, probably in the hopes of getting them off its back (Or just him, as he had the dawning suspicion the black-clad swordsmen weren't being targeted by the beast).

Sadly for the Field Boss, even if he couldn't really claim to have any stupidly broken or unrealistic ability beyond his cloak's unfair Buff (Like most of his girlfriends could), Kirito was still sure that, raw-level and Stats-wise, he was still the currently strongest Front Liner.

Which is why parrying one slash with Elder Emperor as he spun to deflect the other with a well-aimed Martial Arts Skill wasn't all that difficult, nor was all but sending both fake-Nazgul crashing against each other and using them as a pseudo-spring to jump towards a tree.

End result? Two flying Nazgul crashing against the rock-wall and an angry Boss having lost a chunk of HP for nothing.

It was then, though, as he jumped down to try and take advantage of his enemies' stunned state, that the gamer froze upon receiving yet another shock.

Because one of the black-clad 'specters' had let his hood fall down…and under it was the face of someone that simply couldn't be there.

He had seen said person die, after all.

"…Kibaou?!" all but screamed Kirito while actually taking a step back, the cactus-haired man turning to look at him with abnormally empty eyes (As in, they were totally white) before growling and covering himself up again. "But…How…?!"

"The ring…" the 'Kibaou Nazgul' (?) mumbled while rushing forward, his companion and the Boss having apparently recovered as they charged after him. "Give it to us…!"

"Dammit!" growled the black-haired boy as he reached for his menu _. "No choice, shit spare sword or now I can't risk NOT using Dual Blades against these things and their little pet mons…!"_

"Sorry, but you're not getting it." spoke a cold voice before one of the other 'Nazgul' was thrown through the air against the 'Kibaou' one, making him trip and crash, being all but crushed by the too-late-in-stopping Skull Reaper Jr, both hooded guys shattering into polygons. "I'm sick of you and your attacks…why can't you learn that, every time…?"

Slowly, the gamer and the remaining Nazgul turned, seeing Philia walking forward while casually removing her monstrous dagger from the face of the only remaining one she had been fighting against, the being shattering into polygons that fell all around her (which make her burning eyes even more terrifying, by the way).

"…it will end the same?"

"…holy shit." Mumbled Kirito with wide eyes, still unable to believe not only the ease with which she had dispatched the five she had been fighting against, but also how _cool_ that last bit had been. "That was badass."

The orange-haired girl's epic air was brutally eviscerated as she all but tripped over her feet, eyes wide as her face flushed and she looked at him.

"E-eh?! Wha-what was that?!"

"Uhm…just me being honest? That was _pretty_ cool, in a dark Anti-Hero kind of way…" mumbled the black-haired boy while scratching his cheek, which only made Philia's blush to increase.

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Kotone!]**

…oh yeah. Stupidly broken ability to make girls fall for him extremely easy. He had almost forgotten about that.

"Yo-you…that's…!"

"THE RING!" roared the last cloaked figure while shooting forward, making the gamer's eyes widen as the Boss chose to attack him instead.

Philia charged forward, shaking off her blush and embarrassment at the shout in favor of screaming and literally _disarming_ her enemy, then impaling his gut.

As soon as he shattered into polygons, the orange-haired girl was turning around, weapon at the ready.

"Don't worry, I will help…eh?"

Blinking in shock, the armored wielder of the Ring saw the form of the pseudo-Skull Reaper shattering into polygons with a last roar, leaving behind only the epic form of Kirito as his two swords stopped glowing, his coat flapping around him on the wind.

"I'm done too." declared Kirito while sheathing both blades on his back, turning towards the surprised girl. "Are you okay?"

"…yeah, don't worry, they didn't even scratch me." sighed Philia before looking back at him with a calculating gaze. "Now that they're out of the way, though…who are you? Are you _actually_ another player? How did you get here? When…?"

"Woah, woah, slow down pretty girl!" called out the black-haired boy, shamelessly abusing his Dating Stats to calm down and silence the orange-haired girl, even if her growing blush at his words only added to the growing headache he was feeling. "Yes, I'm another player. I have no idea how I got here, you literally ran into me as I got forcibly Teleported. And my name is Kirito, pleased to meet…"

"Ki-Kirito?!" all but screamed her while taking a step back, unconsciously covering the hand where she had the ring with the other as she did so. "Yo-you're the Ladies Man Swordsman?! The biggest sexual deviant in all of Aincrad?! S-stay back or I will seriously hurt you! I'm more than able to do so!"

For an answer…the gamer facepalmed, making Philia blink as he groaned out loud.

"…I knew I should have asked Argo to help putting an end to those over-exaggerations at some point…"

* * *

Little more than 10 minutes later, both Players (Having temporarily formed a Party) were walking through the sinister and dark forests of the place Kirito's map had revealed to be called 'Hollow Area', specifically a section of it called 'Sea of Trees'(Though beyond that he couldn't know much more, lacking any real map data).

There was even some sort of giant gloating black sphere of doom somewhere in the distance, as if in the center of the entire place, looming ominously over everything. Fun sights.

Some explanations had been exchanged after he had, with a bit of effort and some 'cheating' from his power making Philia more willing to talk, that no, he was not about to sexually assault her anytime soon and that he only wanted help figuring where he was and a way out. Which had hilariously gained him 20 more Affection Points with her.

Gods, he had almost forgotten his stupid powers were too broken…

"So, you were teleporting back to town around a week ago when suddenly something went 'crazy' and you ended up here?" repeated the black-haired boy with a small frown. "And then you found…THAT?"

"Ye-yes…I-I found this Ring not long after getting stranded here. It must be some kind of super-rare Item because it makes me very strong, a-and it has some very weird special abilities." awkwardly mumbled the orange-haired girl while looking away from him, idly touching the aforementioned golden band. "Then those guys started appearing out of nowhere and tried to take it from me continuously. It's the only thing letting me survive without risks, s-so there was no way I could just hand it to them. But the-then everything started getting scarier and the sky started turning darker and…I just don't know what to do anymore…"

"I…see." mumbled the gamer with a complicated expression, before taking a deep breath and looking straight towards the wielder of the Ring. "A part of me knows I'm going to regret asking this, but do you by any chance not know what that Ring or those guys are?"

"Uh? You do?!" asked Philia with what was clearly honest surprise in her face.

Kirito didn't know what was sadder: The fact that his power let him easily realize that she was hiding something about how she got the Ring (As if her orange cursor wasn't enough clue) just because it recognized her as a 'Heroine', the one that her current situation was indirectly his fault as it had no doubt been 'The Glitch' that sent her there…or the fact that she apparently had managed to live until her teenage years without having ever heard or seen anything about 'The Lord of the Rings'.

"…yes, but we can talk more about that once we find a way out of here?" sighed the black-haired boy while looking around at the path they were walking through. "Do you have any idea where to go?"

"We-well, I have explored most of this area during my time here, so I know that the supposed 'exit' that goes to another floor seems to be sealed. Beyond that and that strange mystical-looking rock, there is nothing much here beyond Mobs and other weird dark things."

"I see; that's worry…wait, did you say mystical rock?"

A few moments later, the strange pair was standing before what the gamer could only call a 'floating monolith', human-sized and with a strange symbol shining on its surface.

The only reason this was even remotely interesting for them was because, when the orange-haired girl had described said strange mark, Kirito had discovered that, at some point since he arrived there, an identical one had appeared on the back of his right hand.

Seriously, it was as if his power wasn't even trying to hide that his life was some sort of weirdly convenient 'plot' anymore.

"S-so, uhm, do you really think this will help somehow?" questioned her while idly playing with the Ring on her finger.

"Well, we'll soon find out, won't we?" offered the gamer while resisting the urge to point out how she was doing that particularly unsettling gesture way too much. Then, without hesitation, he touched the strange object with his hand.

Immediately, the mark lit up and a soft glow enveloped the object before a mechanical genderless voice echoed from within the monolith.

 _"(Tester Player acknowledged. Sea of Trees' Teleporter has been activated. Initiating Teleportation to Control Room)"_

Neither of the two players could even finish processing the meaning behind the words before both of them vanished without a trace in a small sound effect and flash of light.

As soon as the world regained focus around them, the curious pair found themselves in a…bizarre-looking place, just before an identical 'Monolith' to the one that had taken them there.

It seemed like some sort of 'dome' that someone had made while trying to make a mix of outer space and the imagined view of the virtual world from old sci-fi movies, complete with a half-transparent floor and a massive computer-like interface in the middle.

"…what the hell is this place?!" shouted Philia while looking left and right, her hand unconsciously griping her dagger tightly.

"I am…going to go out on a limb and say it's some sort of control room." commented Kirito while walking towards the esoteric-looking terminal. "And it seems to me that this futuristic computer rip-off may be the answer to our…. bingo! It's an actual Control Interface for this place!"

"Re-really?" asked the orange-haired girl with honest curiosity and a slightly hopeful edge on her tone. "Do-does that mean…there is a way out of here?!"

"That's what I'm hoping for. Let me…see…what…" trailed off the black-haired boy as he read through the menus, his eyes slowly widening at his mouth opening. "No…no fucking way…"

"Wha-what? Is something wrong?!" demanded the Ring-bearer while worriedly peeking over the gamer's shoulder. "Wait…those are…Skills? Weapons? Quests? Eh?"

"It's…it's a Testing Server." mumbled Kirito with a strange tone, an unusual glint appearing in his eyes. "Access is reserved only for 'Acknowledged Users'…but, this Hollow Area was meant to be…a sub-server for the Cardinal System to test anything and everything before adding it to SAO proper."

"U-uhm…and that's good?" questioned Philia with clear confusion, even as the black-haired boy started to shake. "Ki-Kirito? Are you okay…?"

"You're asking if it's 'good'? Philia…this thing is filled to the brink with Non-Implemented Items, Skills, hell, even permanent Passive Buffs! All of them locked under trivial Quests like Mob-slaying, Boss-hunting and a few under specific repeating actions like using Skills on determined enemies or a certain number of times!" unable to contain himself anymore, the gamer started to _laugh_ , in such an open and 'creepy' way that the girl actually took a step back. "This is any gamer's dream come true! It's basically a fucking goldmine in every single sense! Hell, we could level-up, get top-notch gear and acquire power to totally steam-roll the main Floors without risking our lives! I…I actually could…"

'Become powerful enough to feel as if the girls weren't basically playing another league than him', was something that Kirito preferred not to say out loud. While it was true he loved them and he was proud of how far they all had come in their own ways, a minuscule part of him that still had some kind of 'male pride' always stung at the fact that most of them were basically more broken than him by a great margin.

With this, maybe he could actually feel as if protecting them wasn't a wishful dream…

"Hey, not saying that all of that isn't great and all, in fact, it sounds like great news, but…getting out of here?" urged the Ring-bearer with a slightly desperate look.

"Ah…you're right, so-sorry about that!" apologized the boy while blushing profusely and centering his attention back on the console again, which made Philia giggle softly. "Let's see…here! There is a Teleporting option to go back to the 'Main Server', which I can only assume to be Aincrad! Here we go!"

"Wa-wait a…!"

As soon as the gamer pressed the option, not hearing the orange-haired girl's warning in time…a red 'Error' message popped up before him, making the boy blink in confusion at what he saw.

"What the…? 'Unauthorized Player can't be moved into Main Server. Please, dissolve Party with Unauthorized Player and try again'?" read Kirito with shock before turning to look at the Ring-bearer, who had only a sad smile on her face as she took a step back. "Philia…?"

"So, it's just as I thought…I can't go back because I don't belong there anymore. Guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up…" sadly muttered Philia while walking towards the Teleporting Monolith. "Thanks for everything, Kirito, but it would be better if you went back already. I'm sure your…'friends' must be worried about you."

Without hesitation, the orange-haired girl dissolved their party as she finished those words, her gaze idly moving to the Ring in her right hand.

"No, Philia, wait! I don't know why you can't teleport back, but I'm sure I can find a way to…!" and that was as far as the boy went before the Ring-bearer gave him one last sad smile, her eyes once again burning with unnatural fire as the golden band glowed before she simply…'vanished' without a trace, her very existence somehow seeming to fade from his perception. "What the…?! No way…this is…!"

 **"Thanks for everything, Kirito. It was a good day, probably the best I have had in all week."** echoed Philia's voice from seemingly everywhere. **"Maybe we will see each other again, who knows? I wish you the best on the Front Lines until then…"**

Then, she was gone. Somehow, the gamer knew she wasn't in the control room anymore, despite having no real proof of it.

For several seconds he just stood there, biting his lips and looking at the empty space around him before taking a deep breath. With a suddenly determined look, he opened the 'Menu' of his 'power', staring at the latest addition on it.

 **[Takemiya Kotone: 'The Lady of the Ring']**

 **[Relationship Status: Someone amongst No Ones]**

 **[Affection Points: 30/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: LOCKED BY 'HOLLOW AREA' EXTRA STORYLINE]**

….he was both terribly unlucky and stupidly lucky, wasn't he? Not the best combination, especially when he also had a bleeding heart too out of place for someone that used to be a 'loner' before all of this.

Good grief…

"…you can bet I will be back, Philia. And when I do, I'm going to find a way to take you back with me." swore Kirito while operating the Terminal once again, a resigned smile on his face. "Even if I have to Max your Route with everything I have to do it."

And as he vanished from the Hollow Area in the light of a Teleportation Effect, Kirigaya Kazuto thought about what he just said, realizing he had meant every single word.

At the same time, walking through the Sea of Trees as most mobs gave a wide berth to the glow of her Ring, Takemiya Kotone wondered why she felt an unusual but not unpleasant warmth filling her chest…

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

 **[A Special Event has been Triggered!]**

* * *

While all of this took place, back in Floor 76, things were…a bit hectic. As anyone currently standing on the main plaza of Arc Sophia could attest to.

"Any clues?! Hints?! _Anything?!_ " all but shouted Asuna while trying her best to not glare at the gathered members of Fuurinkazan, even as Klein finished getting out of the Fuurin-mobile.

Judging by their shrinking and nervous looks, she hadn't succeeded that much.

"Negative Asuna. We pretty much scored through half the Floor as fast as we could but found no sign of him." lamented the samurai-wannabe while putting a hand on his side, worry on his face. "How about on your end?"

"She basically kicked Diavel out of his Inn's room and forced him to organize a Search Party with all the available Knights of the Blood." informed Nautilus as he, Yuna and Argo arrived at the scene, the boy looking a bit disturbed while the girls seemed clearly unhappy/distressed.

"Well, at least we solved another problem while we're trying to find Kirito." commented the songstress without mercy, as if the current situation completely justified the borderline public humiliation that Diavel had been through thanks to the rapier-user. "Anything else from down there, Argo?"

"Nothing yet, just more and more confirmation he's not anywhere specific." growled the whiskered girl with clear worry as she closed yet another Message window, frustrated. "I have asked basically everyone to check just about every place we could think of, even the log house in Floor 22, but there is no sign of him. On a side note, if we ever manage to get back to the lower Floors I'm going to own more favors I probably can ever pay back…"

"Grr, this doesn't make sense! Kirito-kun can't have just….vanished without a trace for no reason!" clearly at the edge of losing her little remaining self-control, using anger to drown her growing fear and worry, Asuna all but slammed her fist on the monument around the Teleport Gate, making the 'Immortal Object' screen appear. "What about our 'Flying Squad'?!"

"We're still waiting to hear back from them any…"

"….oooouuuuuuuut!" came a distant scream just seconds before a blonde meteor crashed a dozen meters from the gathered group, making them turn in shock to see a twitching Leafa lying upside-down against a bench in a quite embarrassing position. "…anime lied to me. Flying with these things is NOT easy…I miss my fairy wings…"

"Uhm, what Leafa-san is trying to say is that we haven't found any sign of Kirito-san either." explained Silica as she gracefully descended near them, riding atop an equally worried Pina. "Also, she may have gone way faster than us over a dozen times and then forgotten she should slow down to land…"

"Well, given how we all seem just on the edge of starting to murder things, we can't exactly blame her…" commented Lisbeth as she, Lux, Sachi and Kizmel arrived at the scene. "Especially when we can't find a damn thing!"

"W-we tried everywhere in town, asking every single NPC in case he had activated some secret Quest without telling us or without realizing…" mumbled the spear-user with teary eyes while her 'guardian spirit' tried to comfort her. "But we found nothing! N-no one really…seems to know what happened to him…"

"I accept that…I'm as worried as all of you, I would be completely dishonest if I denied it, but…I also think we may be overreacting a bit." spoke the Dark Elf while crossing her arms, drawing everyone's gaze to her quite unusual expression. "Kirito has more than once proved capable of coming on top of seemingly hopeless situations, always returned to us and more…so why can't I just stop worrying like this?"

"Because you love him, Kizmel-san. We all do." softly commented Lux while putting a hand on the conflicted young woman's shoulder. "And when you love someone so much, there just isn't a way to not worry for them when you don't know if they're safe, no matter how strong they are…or how much you believe in them."

For a moment, Kizmel simply stared with surprise towards the silver white-haired girl, most of the present doing the same in surprise at the unexpectedly deep words from the usually quiet if cheerful clumsy swordswoman.

Then, she smiled at her, ruffling her hair while chuckling softly.

"…heh, how funny. I'm usually the one relieving others in moments like this, but I guess I'm just a girl in the end too, eh?" having said those words, the Dark Elf turned around, looking at everyone with her usual determined/bright look. "Okay then, let's stop wasting time! Even if we're sure our man has everything taken care of, we wouldn't be able to call us his women if we didn't do our best to make sure he is ourselves!"

"…Kirito truly is a God amongst men." simply whispered Klein in a resigned tone, the males of his guild softly nodding in agreement.

"…able to say that so boldly…" mumbled Leafa, finally up again and with her wings slightly folded on her back, a small blush on her face. "I wonder…if I would also…"

"…you're all crazy, you know?" came one last voice with quite the nonchalant disbelief on it, making the group turn around to see the mysterious Sinon walking toward them with Yui in tow, the scantily clad girl seeming conflicted as she looked at the girls gathered there. "I hope you at least realize that."

"Look, Sinon girl, in light of the fact that we're all in the middle of a pseudo-crisis and that you're basically half-memoryless right now, I won't tell you to shut up with very unkind words as I want to, but please, refrain from judging us without even knowing us." 'kindly' spoke Argo with a strained smile that actually made the red/black-clad newcomer shiver. "Because unless you somehow can make Kii-bou show up out of nowhere in the next seconds, I'm going to be very angry at you for the rest of the wee…"

It was at that moment that the Teleport Gate behind everyone lit up like it would for any normal teleportation and, without any special fanfare, the Ladies Man Swordsman himself appeared and walked out, blinking at himself and then at the setting sun on the sky with a relieved smile.

"Oh, thank heavens, I'm back! Fweh, for a moment there I was scared I could end literally anywhere else…" sighed Kirito before feeling a strange pressure around him, the black-haired boy turning to see the shocked looks all the people gathered there was sending him. "Uh…hi everyone! I'm back! Did I worry you too…?"

"ONII-CHAN!" all but screamed Leafa as she literally flew into the gamer's arms, the momentum of her wing-thrusters all but sending him flying against the Teleport Gate, relieved tears falling down the blonde's eyes. "You're okay!"

"…if anyone wonders, I'm totally claiming I somehow did that." declared Sinon without the slightest hint of shame.

Kirito would have answered to that, had a veritable avalanche of females not chosen to follow his adoptive sister's footsteps in that moment.

"Kii-bou! Come here so I can kiss you, you imbecile!"

"Kirito-kun! Thank….thank everything…snif…!"

"Geeze, Kirito, would you stop worrying us like this and then acting as if nothing was wrong?!"

"Ki-Kirito-san! You're…bwaaaah!"

"Heh…See? I told you he would come back just fine…"

"Kizmel…are you crying?"

"Leave her be, Liz, we're all quite emotional right now…just look at Sachi!"

"Uaaaaaaaah! Kiritooooo! Do-don't ever scare us like that agaiiiin!"

"Sa-Sachi…tell your Night Kitty to back off, it's suffocating us…" finished Yuuna the long series of 'greetings' for the noticeably awkward-looking but clearly happy Kirito, who was trying his best to soothe the girls' worries, conserve his dignity and remain standing.

The fact that he managed the first two at all was a testament to how stupidly broken his 'power' was, even as he totally fell down in the middle of several girly squeaks (And a couple resigned chuckles, half-buried among his adoptive sister, most of his kinda-wives and what he was pretty sure was one of the former's wings keeping him from moving at all.

Watching the entire thing with something akin to extreme disbelief, Sinon turned towards the deadpanning forms of Fuurinkazan's male members.

"It's not like THIS all the time with them…right?" asked the scantily-clad girl with an almost pleading tone.

"…do you want the truth or just something that will make you feel better?" asked Klein with a tone that pretty much answered the question, before his face brightened as he gave the mysterious player a 'charming' smile. "That said, if you feel like being around them is too much, here in Fuurinkazan we're more than open to receive…!"

"Thanks, but no thanks. I think I will remain to myself for now." Bluntly declared Sinon while looking away, ignoring the critical hit she had just given to the samurai-wannabe in favor of looking behind her. "Seriously, this weird little girl of them almost seems like the sanest persona aro…eh? Whe-where did she go?!"

Somehow, that declaration managed to reach the entirety of the Unison Hearts guild (Plus Yuna and Leafa), making them all freeze as they looked towards the red/black-clad girl in shock, seeing her panicked gaze moving around.

"Yui-chan?"

"Whe-where did Yui go?!"

"Oh no, not again! Is this the day of the sudden disappearances or what?!"

"Ca-calm down, everyone, Yui can't have gotten too far! I know for sure there is no way the same that happened to me happened to her, s-so let's just split up to look for her, okay?"

"Okay, but as soon as we find her you have to explain what happened while you were gone, Kii-bou! Girls, let's move! And you, Miss No Interest, you're helping us!"

"M-me?!"

"Yeah! Yui-chan was with you and you lost her, so move your pretty ass and help us look for her!"

"O-okay, I will no need to…wha-what did you say about my ass?!"

As he saw the crazy antics developing around him…the gamer couldn't help but smile softly.

Truly, no matter how crazy things got around him, it seemed that Kirito could always feel at home when surrounded by his girls' craziness…

* * *

While everyone was obviously more than reluctant to part ways with him after having just found he was safe and sound, the black-haired boy had thankfully been able to point out how they would easily cover every corner of Arc Sophia if they split up (Especially with two of them being able to 'fly'), as there was little chance Yui had exited the city. After a short bout of worry and hesitation, they had agreed and had quickly started to search, hoping to find the group's 'daughter' soon.

On a side-note, Leafa clearly still was trying to wrap her head around _that_ particular reveal. Honestly, the gamer wasn't sure what should worry him more, how freaked out his adoptive sister had looked when thinking he had somehow had a child while within the virtual world or how her eyes had suddenly 'sparkled' for a moment when the young AI had asked if she should 'call her Mama too'.

That wasn't something he should be thinking about at that moment, though. Because, since the instant he had entered that small alley connecting two of the city's main streets, his instincts had started tingling in a very 'strange' weird, as if they were detecting some terrible danger but absolutely no hostile intent towards himself, which was a combination he could honestly say to have never encountered.

Realizing that whatever it was would still clearly mean that someone was stalking him, though, the gamer steeled himself and spun around, looking at the dark corners of the alley while giving his best 'commanding look' as he spoke.

"I know you're there, whoever you are! Are you going to come out?!"

"…aww, that's no fun! I wanted to surprise you!"

Taken aback by the unexpectedly childish whining, Kirito almost didn't see the tall figure stepping out of the darkness a few meters from him…and then felt his breath be completely taken away at the sight.

'Gorgeous' was the only word the boy could think of to describe the girl before him.

Lavender hair going down to the base of her neck, with two long strands that kept going to the top of her breasts. Eyes of red-violet color, nearly pink in tone.

That alone would have already made her an exotic beauty few could argue against, but then there was also the fact that she had a body to die for, which a part of the gamer's brain refused to believe could be real. After all, she was even more well-endowed and curvier than Leafa.

Then, there was also the fact that she was wearing what must have been someone's idea of a 'fantasy-style long coat with a dramatic high collar', if someone had forgotten to tell the girl the dark purple garment wasn't supposed to be worn without anything covering her torso, and with such a dangerous cleavage (Going down to just over her bellybutton) that Kirito was sure the only thing preventing her bountiful chest (Huh, she had two freckles on the left one, curious) from popping out were the Ethics Code-restricted game physics. Thankfully, she seemed to be wearing something on the lower part of her body, even if the 'thing' (Because there was no way he could call something _that_ tight a skirt) not only almost seemed to be part of her coat but also barely went enough inches below her hips to just cover her privates and not one more. To complete it all, she wore fingerless gloves and very tight dark stockings that covered almost 3/4 of her legs, which almost seemed fused with the black footwear (Boots?) covering her feet…and a curious-looking hat with feathery-like edges, looking worn-out and menacing, yet somehow only adding to the girl's sinful appearance.

Of course, beyond everything that almost seemed to be screaming at the hormonal teenager within him for his full attention, two particular things were what truly caught his focus.

The first was the bizarre-looking 'weapon' on the girl's back (Was it supposed to be a two-handed sword? An axe?), which looked more like some particularly bizarre torture weapon you would find on a creepy mob than a player-used one.

The second was the familiar and unconscious little girl she carried in her arms, a sheepish smile on her face as she presented her small body to him.

"Yui?!" all but screamed Kirito while running forward, grabbing a hold of his virtual daughter and feeling a weight lift from his shoulders upon realizing she was just sleeping. "What…?"

"Heh, I found her passed out in a bench and realized you were all probably looking for her, so…here she is!" happily declared the exuberant girl before giving him a dazzling smile and putting her face pretty close to his. "I'm Strea, by the way! Nice to meet you!"

"Likewise…" muttered the black-haired boy while thanking his stupid powers for the ability to not start stuttering and backing away at the sudden invasion of his personal space, even if his eyes DID dart down towards the girl's generously exposed bosom. "Uhm, I don't think I have seen you around the Front Lines before, Strea-san…?"

"Oh, well, that's because I'm new up here! You could say I arrived just as things started getting crazy, heheh." simply laughed Strea before taking another step forward and cupping the gamer's cheek, actually taking him aback with the action. "You know, you're even cuter up close, Mr. Ladies Man Swordsman."

"I…guess that my reputation precedes me." chuckled Kirito while wondering what was 'wrong' with the girl in front of him.

Forget his crazy Dating Sim powers, no girl had actively acted as if she wanted to get in his pants within 30 seconds of meeting him!

"Not exactly…you're even cuter up close, Kirito." declared the red-eyed girl before leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek, only his stupidly high Dating Stats preventing the boy from choking on air at the action and how her all-but-exposed breasts squished his left arm as she did so (And slightly into Yui's head too, which was quite the conflicting sight). "…ah, I wanted to do that for a while now!"

"Di-did you?" questioned the gamer with slight resignation…before realizing something that, surprisingly, felt uncannily 'wrong' to him.

Nothing happened.

No window popping up. No announcement. No sudden screen…nothing.

His power…hadn't made the girl a Heroine? When she seemed to be shamelessly flirting with him without him needing to do anything at all?

What the hell?!

"Heh, anyway, why don't you treat me to something for dinner as thanks for finding the little cutie over here?" proposed Strea while happily leaning on him, the edges of her hat tickling Kirito's nose in an almost pleasant way. "And you can tell me more about you while we eat!"

"…sure. It's the least I could do for your help, after all."

Bewildered at the girl's boldness, still carrying his sleeping 'daughter' and, truly, more than a little curious at the strange mystery she seemed to present, the black-haired boy smoothly accepted her proposal, determined to discover what was wrong.

He never noticed the dangerous edge Strea's smile took as she cheered and looked back for a moment, using her loud cheer as a silly distraction.

The darkness within the alley's shadows receded at her glare, like some sort of creature backing off in the presence of a predator.

Once again with an honest and happy smile, the lavender-haired girl reaffirmed the grip her chest seemed to have on the gamer's arm, letting him lead her out of the alley as if nothing was wrong.

And as far as everyone within SAO knew, that was the only truth…

* * *

When Kirito had messaged them saying how he had found Yui and that he would meet them in the bar of the inn they were stayed at, Argo already had quite the strange feeling in her gut. When the second line of his Message indicated he was bringing the person that had found their adopted virtual daughter with him to treat them at a meal as reward, said feeling only doubled so.

Not only because she had noticed he specifically avoided used any gender-specific references, which meant with a 100% surety that it had been a girl, probably a pretty one. But also for the fact that whenever Kii-bou did something like that it was guaranteed to end in quite the crazy way, and honestly the auburn-haired Info Broker wasn't looking forward to seeing any new girl trying to get their kinda-husband's attention. Especially when the matter of his sister-cousin was still unsolved and the scantily-clad amnesiac insisted on continuing to follow them like a lost puppy despite her 'apparent dislike' of their shenanigans.

When they arrived at the Inn just to see a girl sexier than Leafa, more mature-looking than Kizmel and as pretty as Asuna leaning on Kirito as she whined childishly to try and convince him to feed her (And a sleeping Yui sitting on the chair at his other side), though, the whiskered-girl just felt the urgent need to strangle her dear boyfriend.

Huh, so this is what a 'Jealous-bitch Impulse' is like? Well, you learn something new every day…

"…seriously, Strea, I'm NOT going to feed you." groaned the black-haired boy while thanking his self-control for being able to simply give an exasperated look to the gorgeous girl's face and not at _other_ parts of her that were in almost full display and being squished against his side. "You're more than able to eat by yourself!"

"Awww, but that's no fun! How am I going to get closer to you if you're not putting warm food on my mouth?" asked Strea with a cute pout that was so at odds with her position and words that it almost overcame the control his 'Stats' granted him. "Just a tiny spoonful?"

"…will you actually let me stop after just one?"

"…and if I feed you?" counter-asked the purple-clad girl, pretty much answering the gamer's question.

"No. And really, I don't think you should just lean against…"

"Hi there Kirito-kun, it seems you made _another_ new 'friend' today." 'happily' commented Asuna while walking up to him, making Kirito sigh upon seeing her and everyone else's gazes fixed on the red-eyed stranger, who tilted her head cutely while looking at them with an innocent smile.

"…amazing. How the hell does he do it?" mumbled Lisbeth while looking Strea up and down in absolute disbelief. "It's as if the world itself is throwing amazing girls at him…"

"Heh…Kirito-san truly is…gifted to do such things…eh…?" emptily laughed Silica while looking at the red-eyed girl's stunning body, her eyes twitching all the while as her hands moved over her own childish figure, boldly exposed by her Kirin Armor. "…unfair world…"

"…you know, I think I'm starting to understand what Klein and his friends keep repeating lately." commented Kizmel as she gave the sexy warrior of the strange weapon her own appraising look…and then gave the black-haired boy a _thumbs-up_ , of all things. "You truly are one outstanding man, Kirito. I'm proud of being your woman."

"…Kizmel, please, don't say things like that…"

"So, Kii-bou, mind introducing us to your latest acquaintance?" asked Argo in her best attempt at a sweet voice, which only served to make the gamer fully aware of how unamused she was.

"Girls, this is Strea. She found Yui passed out a while back and was kind enough to bring her to me." informed Kirito with a small sigh, happy to see most of the girls' animosity melting away in favor of looking over the sleeping virtual little girl (Sachi and Yuna going so far as to walk to her side and make sure she wasn't going to fall off the chair). "I invited her to dinner as thanks, but she's…quite a bit overenthusiastic."

"I just wanted to get close to the famous Kirito-sama! You all certainly make it seem as if it's a wonderful thing, after all." cheerfully declared Strea while taking a spoonful of the cake she had ordered, giving everyone a close-eyed smile. "…well, except for you two. You two are new…are you joining Kirito's crazy 'group' too?"

"E-eh?! M-me?!" squeaked Leafa once she realized she was one of the ones being addressed, her face immediately flushed red as she looked down, the words finally registering in her mind. "M-me…joining…Onii-chan's…heh heh…"

"Hell no!" quickly denied Sinon, going so far as to make a cross with her arms before her. "I don't plan with getting mixed with…whatever the hell they have. I'm just hanging around because, sadly, they seem like the most competent bunch around and I still have no idea of how I got here…"

"Thank for your sincerity, Sinon-san. It's truly appreciated." joked Kirito while giving the scantily-clad girl a small grin. "You would be surprised how many people try and pretend to like us just to get something out of it, so your brutal dislike is a breath of fresh air."

Certainly, the black-haired boy wasn't expecting for her to blush deeply in shock before looking away with annoyance and walking away, mumbling about idiots and other things, refusing to meet any of their gazes.

His…his Stats weren't SO high up now that he could make even lame pseudo-jokes into flirting without realizing it, right? Well, at least it seemed his power still hadn't considered her a 'Heroine' yet either…

"…well, that was that. Don't worry Kii-bou, I'm sure Miss Sour Mood will come back soon…for good or bad." sighed Argo while turning to him again. "Now then, I think you owe us an explanation about your earlier disappearance, right?"

"Yes, I think we should get to that already…" mumbled the gamer while standing up, giving Strea an apologetic look while Yuna scooped the sleeping Yui in her arms, chuckling at hearing her mumbling about destroying the future. "Sorry Strea, but this is a private matter we're going to discuss up in our rooms, so…"

"Oooh, your rooms? Are you going to set who sleeps where this week? Are you all going to sleep together soon?" asked the red-eyed girl with a vibrant and seemingly utterly innocent tone, making everyone freeze and more than one face to lit up at the not-so-innocent interpretations many could give to the words. "…can I join in?"

"Anyway, this has been an interesting meeting, bu-but I'm sure you should be getting back to wherever you're staying, Strea!" quickly called out Kirito while standing out and reaching for the weapon the purple-clad warrior had left beside their table (Instead of just putting it on her Inventory, for some reason) and all but shoving it on her hands. "See you some other ti…!"

"Where…where did you get that?"

The sudden and unexpected question caught everyone off-guard, more than one turning to look at how _Lux_ , of all people, was staring at the scary-looking saw-blade-thing with wide and seemingly haunted eyes.

"…I found it in a treasure chest a couple Floors back. Seems like it was a super-rare drop. Lucky me!" cheered Strea without missing a beat, quickly tilting her head as she hung the weapon on her back, looking at the girl of silvery white hair with unnervingly friendly eyes. "Why?"

"I…just…n-no, forget it, I was just thinking nonsense, ahahahah!" laughed it off the swordswoman while waving her arms in an overly exaggerated way. "I just thought it looked kind of familiar, but…there is no way…"

Lux trailing off just caused further confusion to spread through the group, though Kirito was keenly aware that the phenomenon coincided with Strea having reached for her hat (Which she had left aside on the table) and putting it on.

"Anyway, it was fun but I should probably get going…let's hang out again soon, Kirito!" happily proclaimed the red-eyed girl before, without any shame, reaching out and kissing the boy's cheek, ignoring the girls' open-mouthed looks and skipping out of the Inn without a care in the world. "Later, everyone!"

"…why is every pretty girl in this world attracted to my Onii-chan?!" demanded/whined Leafa while holding her head, the way in which her wings closed around her as she did so making it look terribly cute.

"…you know, maybe we should start seriously considering just keeping an eye on him 24/7." muttered Yuna with a surprisingly flat look, even as she let Sachi help her carry Yui as they started heading upstairs. "After all, at this rate, it's almost as if he's going to meet a new girl everywhere he goes…"

"…ehm…heh, it's funny that you say that…" laughed the gamer while trying to ignore how everyone was suddenly staring at him with unusually cold eyes at his words (Except for Kizmel). "See, when I vanished this evening…"

* * *

The moon shone beautifully in Aincrad's night sky, something that most people would be able to easily appreciate from most strategic places around the Floating Castle.

In Floor 76, though, the memoryless girl known simply as 'Sinon' wasn't really that interested in the moon, even if her gaze was completely fixed on it as she sat on one of the many fields near Arc Sophia.

"Ugh, that stupid playboy…forget about him, Sinon, you need to concentrate on more important things…like remembering who the hell you are, for starters." sighed the scantily-clad girl while trying to banish the image of Kirito's cute…that is, damnably annoying smile! Yup, totally what she meant to say.

Also, talking alone while sitting out of the Safe Zone within a Death Game was probably both a bad idea and not a good sign for her sanity, but Aincrad's latest prisoner (Both because of her condition and all the craziness that had occurred in the few hours since she arrived) hadn't yet fully grasped how much danger her life was actually in now.

Mainly because she couldn't remember most of said life, yeah, but still…

As if it had been waiting for her to think along those lines, a sudden agonizing 'pain' shot through Sinon's head, making her groan and fall to her knees as her vision swam…

 _A young girl wearing glasses, ignoring the dark whispers and looks everyone sent her, judging her for a sin she had committed to save someone she loved…_

 ** _Then, a warrior clad in black and red, two blurs of white and black in his hands as he fought against a grinning man using a blood-red spear, their clash transcending the realm of what could be called 'human'…_**

With a loud gasp, the scantily-clad girl recovered her consciousness, feeling unusually cold as she tried to stand with her badly trembling legs.

"What…what the hell was that? Memories? But…some of those made no sense…what were tho…?"

The sudden sound of monstrous buzzing everywhere interrupted SAO's newest player dead in her tracks, her eyes shooting around in time to see how several wasp-like Mobs had spawned and completely surrounded her while she had her 'episode'.

Suddenly realizing how foolish she had been for going out there alone during the night, Sinon felt an unusual fear gripping her heart as she stood up, keenly aware she had no weapon to defend herself, nor any idea how to 'fight' at all, and that her life could very well be about to end any second now, even as the monsters closed in with almost mechanical precision, their massive stingers already pointed to stab her.

Maybe because she still couldn't really remember much of herself, all that the scantily-clad girl could think about was that infuriatingly calm boy and all the girls surrounding him. About how all of them seemed truly scared for his safety to the point of nigh-hysteria when he was gone. About how he seemed to really and honestly care for them from the bottom of his heart instead of being just a stupid playboy.

…did she have anyone that cared for her that much and vice versa in the real world? Did she have anyone that would be sad when she was gone?

She didn't know…and she wanted to find out. She didn't want to die there. She wanted to know and remember what the weight in her heart was. Why she had ended there in the first place.

And…maybe, to understand the nature of the bizarre bond between Kirito and the girls around him.

But as the wasps finally got within range to start attacking, Sinon realized that her wishes made no difference to the terrible and cold reality around her. That of her having nothing to use against the monsters about to kill…

 ** _"If you can't defeat them, then imagine something that can."_**

The thought came unbidden, from seemingly nowhere. Once again, 'memories' that she was sure weren't really her memories reached her, images of dormant circuits awakening with the cocking of a hammer metaphorically being shot on the back of her head, and two simple words that made her feel as if she could do anything escaping her lips…

"Trace…on."

From a moment to the next, that attacking Mobs completely lost sight of their prey.

Their limited AI going through a very primitive semblance of being 'dumbfounded' before they all shattered into polygons, leaving nothing but a shower of light in their wake.

Standing just beyond where they had been, Sinon gasped as she seemed to fully regain her bearings, before looking down at her half-crossed arms.

More specifically, at the weapons she now held in her hands, having appeared out of nowhere at her call.

Twin Chinese short blades rested in her grip, one black with a tortoise shell-like pattern and one white with a wave-like pattern. Beyond their color, though, both swords were identical in every way, down to the Ying-Yang symbol they had near the base of their blade, if reversed in each one.

Kanshou and Bakuya. Those were their names, though for the life of her the scantily-clad girl didn't know HOW she could know that, as the clearly unreal blades couldn't have actually been part of her missing memories…could they?

Also, how had she moved like _that_? Sure, maybe she had amnesia, but, for some reason, she was pretty sure she was no amazing sword-user IRL and that she couldn't have played many games where one fought with such weapons, so…

As soon as they had come, the blades were gone, shattering into light and taking away the strange feeling of 'rightness' Sinon had experienced while holding them. Even so, the memoryless player now felt as if she had found a piece of the puzzle that her missing memories were. It was a small and seemingly very random one, but it was a start.

And she was still alive, which was a plus. Especially after she thought back on what had gone through her mind while she thought she was a goner.

Steeling her resolve, the scantily-clad girl nodded to herself before heading back towards Arc Sophia, intent on finding a place where she could spend the night. All the while, she continued repeating the 2 'magical' words in her mind, almost feeling an unnatural hum tingling all over her as she did so.

Never did she notice the red eyes staring at her from the shadows, always just outside her perception…

* * *

Back in the world of Alfheim Online, flying had always eased her worries and made her feel strangely more free, as if she could actually do anything when doing so, feel her personal and emotional problems fade as she opened her wings.

Ironically, now that she could fly without limits faster than ever (Even if she couldn't go up beyond the Floor she was in right now), Leafa didn't feel any of the usual relief the action brought her.

Maybe it was because of how the wings on her back didn't feel 'alive' like the ones her fairy avatar possessed?

No…if she was being honest, the blonde girl knew it was probably because of all the emotional confusion within her at that moment.

While the revelations Kirito had brought them were certainly surprising, she wasn't as receptive to their full implications of importance given she had only been in SAO for almost no time at all. What it had finished driving home for her, though, was the bizarre reality she had found upon arriving there.

Her dear older brother had become a playboy.

Well…not exactly. Most likely, from what she had been able to gather and understand, he had somehow become a natural chick-magnet without meaning to, something that her, having started to fall for him slightly before the SAO Incident, could understand perfectly.

She knew her circumstances were quite unique, but if she had managed to fall completely in love with him just by being at his side and worried for his wellbeing for two years, then what about all these girls that had actively interacted and fought for their lives together with him? It honestly would have weirded her out more if they _weren't_ hopelessly in love with him.

That Kazuto…Kirito, that is, had accepted such a thing as their bizarre 'arrangement' had truly caught her off guard, though, and more than shaken her heart in unpleasant ways.

But…he was still the same. Her adopted brother was still the same gentle and caring boy worried about her wellbeing in which he had changed a month before getting trapped in that world, as if he had done so just for her (Or so she liked to think). He hadn't become any sort of sexual deviant or extreme pervert despite being surrounded by many cute, beautiful and/or sexy girls.

And the way in which he had reached out to her when she had asked what his true feelings for her could be, the sensation of their lips smashing together and him almost possessively kissing her as their hands roamed each other's bodies…

Shaking her head and sure that she was blushing up a storm, Leafa stopped her mindless flying and came to a smooth stop, almost losing balance in midair as she did so. Certainly, she still wasn't used to how different flying with the Wing Zero's Wing Shields was compared to her fairy wings.

Still, back to the matter at hand, what she couldn't deny was that her feelings for the black-haired boy were still as intense as before, despite everything she had discovered over the last day (Maybe even more so after their 'passionate' moment). And that he apparently was more than able to see her as something more than just a 'little sister'.

As she entertained those thoughts, the blonde girl slowly descended, her gaze moving towards the massive pillar raising into the 'ceiling' of the Floor just before her. What she deduced to be the Floor's labyrinth, which would contain the Boss blocking them from reaching the next…

The moment her feet touched the ground, an unholy sound shook the mechanical angel from her daydreams, making her eyes widen as a giant spider-like monster materialized before her, blocking the direct entrance towards the labyrinth and roaring as 3 HP Bars materialized over it.

Flying up once again, Leafa cursed as the Field Boss managed to hit her with one of its limbs…and did nothing at all, the blonde girl blinking in shock as the long leg bounced off her Gundanium armor and she was simply thrown back violently quite some distance, which she simply corrected by using her wings.

Glancing at her HP in disbelief, the not-fairy verified that, indeed, she hadn't lost even a single point of life. Then again, if the armor she was wearing was even remotely similar to the fantastic alloy which made up the Gundams she had seen in anime, it would take WAY more than an angry giant spider to even scratch it.

Staring forward towards the roaring Boss as it lurched towards her, Leafa remembered something; her first thought when she had decided to come into Sword Art Online to find Kazuto.

That she would save him. And, with this bizarre power she had obtained through some bizarre reason…

As if reading her thoughts, her right wing moved slightly to the side, 'opening' as something vaguely familiar shot out from within and flew before her eyes.

With a defiant scream, the blonde girl shot forward and snatched the 'cylinder' out of the air, 'turning it on' in a way she had seen the glorious machine her armor was based on doing countless times.

A sound of energy coming to life and cutting through virtual flesh filled the air, before the massive spider Boss froze, confused.

Then, it majestically split in half, a visible glowing line bisecting it for a few seconds before it shattered into polygons.

Slowly, the mechanical angel stood up, the imposing and unnatural greenish glow of the Beam Sword she now held in her hands illuminating her face, armor and the entire clearing she was in.

A feral smile appeared on her face.

"…heh. Yes…I think I can do this."

She may be no Gundam pilot. No amazing hero. And definitively no Heero Yuy.

But for something like making sure she got a part of her adopted brother's heart? She felt that she was more than brave enough.

And if she could help make saving him and everyone within that Floating Castle easier than ever, well, she doubted any of them would complain, right?

Nodding to herself, the smile never leaving her face, Kirigaya Suguha's avatar stored her Beam Sword once again and flew off, heading back to town, to where her dearest person was.

She never noticed the appreciative and contemplative look the red-eyed figure waiting in the shadows gave her, before vanishing in a wisp of mist…

* * *

Letting out a tired sigh, Kirito let himself fall on his bed, glad that crazy day was finally over and done with.

Just explaining to the girls everything about his disappearance, the Hollow Area and Philia had taken almost 2 hours, taking all questions and interruptions into account. Plus the disbelief/annoyance a few had shown at how his randomly unexpected adventure had led him to know yet another girl.

A quick trip to the Teleport Gate had proved his words, though, even if there had been quite a commotion when apparently only he was able to Teleport to the 'Testing Server'. A quick use of the Party system had let them realize and test how to change that, though, and it seemed that he could take one person with him at a time if he made a Party with them before teleporting to the Hollow Area's control room (And the small frown that caused him to remember Philia hadn't returned). A bit disappointing, but something they should have to work around with, both because of the benefits that place could give them and that he _wasn't_ going to just abandon the orange-haired girl in that sinister place.

Though he could still remember the deadpanning looks almost everyone gave him when he had revealed the girl's attire, the 'Nazgul' following her and how she apparently was carrying the One Ring with her.

Honestly, if they hadn't gone through all the things they had done together, he was pretty sure more than one of the girls would have called total bullshit on that.

In the end, though, everything had been settled and the more-than-a-little-tired group had decided to call it a night. The gamer vaguely recalled some of the girls heading out saying something about being back soon, but he was honestly too tired to be worried, not to mention he was sure there was nothing in this Floor that could threaten them short of facing a Boss alone.

…which reminded him of the fact that he was expected to help organize a Raid for the labyrinth for tomorrow, as they had been delaying it long enough. Which a massive pain in the ass, but something he knew they all needed to do in order to continue clearing the…

Kirito's thoughts were interrupted when his room's door opened, making him blink and look towards it in surprise, having been sure the girls would have preferred to sleep by themselves after the rough day they just had…and felt his breath catch in his throat as he saw Argo standing there, clad only in a simple dark-yellow nightgown that he had never seen her wear before, the slightest hint of transparency visible on it.

"A-Argo?"

"Nee, Kii-bou…can I give you company for a while?" asked the whiskered girl before marching towards his bed and lying at his side without waiting for an answer, moving around until she was looking at him face to face. "Hmm…I wonder what it says about me that nowadays I'm more used to sleeping at your side than without you?"

"That we may have made a lot of hurried decisions our parents probably wouldn't approve of." answered the boy without missing a beat, causing the girl to snicker before openly chuckling. "Heh…seriously, Argo, is something wrong? You seem…"

"Nervous? Annoyed? Maybe a bit of both? Honestly, Kii-bou, at this point I wouldn't be able to tell you myself…" mumbled the info broker before looking towards the ceiling. "You know…back during the Beta, when we first met…I never would have imagined things would turn out like this, you know?"

"Heh, tell me about it…want to know a secret? You were actually the first girl I openly talked with besides my mother and sister since I became a teenager." chuckled the gamer before his gaze turned distant. "And given that I hadn't really talked much with any of them for years…"

"Yeah, I get it: You fucked up, felt guilty and tried your best to fix that after realizing it…and, somehow, it all led to this lovely mess we call everyday life nowadays." cut him off Argo before closing her eyes, seemingly in deep thought. "You know…I should hate you."

"Uh? Argo…?"

"Like, seriously! I have been a nerdy girl most of my life, someone who always preferred staying at home playing games than going shopping or checking beauty magazines. I was good at gossiping just because it was stupidly easy for me to fade into the background as no one really noticed me. That's why I got into the whole 'Info Broker' persona during the Beta…" ranted the whiskered girl before her eyes snapped open and she fixed them on him, as if trying to drill through his face with her gaze. "And then the official release happened and the 'new you' came along."

"…I see." was all that the gamer said, wisely suppressing a sigh because, for good or bad, he DID see.

His stupidly high Stats and his Relationship Level with the girl glaring at him made understanding her feelings extremely easy for him, which was both beautiful and terrifying at the same time.

"Do you?! Because you…made me feel special! You made feel important, cared for me, made me feel like…like a girl a boy would truly look at and care for, for the first time ever." grumbled the info broker while her cheeks tinted red. "I know I'm not all that special…I'm not pretty like Aa-chan, nor do I have a rocking body like Kizmel or your little sis…hell, I barely have more curves than Silica! …and please, don't tell her I said that."

Sleeping in her bed on a nearby room, Silica twisted under the sheets, mumbling something about hunting a giant rat monster and using its skin as breast-pads. The next day, she would wake up considerably disturbed and confused because of that.

"I won't. But Argo…you know that none of that matters, right? At least, not for me." shamelessly declared the boy before reaching out and grabbing the girl's cheek when she tried to look away, forcing her gaze back to his. "Be it you, Silica or anyone else…I won't make excuses and lie about sometimes letting my gaze wander, but, as bizarre as it sounds for anyone else, I love you all for who you are and nothing more. I love that annoying grin you have every time you know something someone else doesn't. I love the way you laugh when someone else makes a fool of themselves and you're actually just glad it wasn't you who screwed up. I love the way in which you pretend not to care for those that aren't directly close to you and secretly go out of your way to help everyone while trying to keep up your reputation as a greedy girl who would sell her grandmother for enough col. I love when you actually become honest and show how much you…"

"Stop!" silenced him the shaking female while embracing him, making him smile softly as he felt the happy tears she tried to hide by burying her crimson and smiling face in his shoulder. "Just…stop, you idiot…do you want my heart to actually melt in the real world?"

 **[You gained 50 Affection Point with Heroine Shiori!]**

"If it cheered you up even a little, yes, I would." smiled the gamer before softly reaching up for her chin, Argo's tear-staining face looking unnaturally beautiful in his eyes. "Also, you really didn't need to dress up like that just to have me looking at you. I will even apologize for the whole deal with Strea-san if it makes you feel better."

"…you dummy…that's not…the whole reason I did it for." muttered the whiskered girl before, after taking a deep breath, rolling over the surprised form of Kirito and settling just over him. "Kii-bou…"

"A-Argo?!" 'asked' the black-haired boy as he felt his honest shock almost overcome his 'Dating Stats' for a second.

"Hey…want to do something crazy that I'm sure we won't regret…probably?" asked the info broker with what she probably hoped was a seductive smile.

Immediately, as it hadn't happened in way too long…the gamer felt the world around him losing all color and stopping on its tracks, a familiar screen with 3'Choices' was presented to him.

 **Argo wishes to give herself to you. You…**

 **A-[Push her off]**

 **B-[Calm her down]**

 **C-[Accept her with open arms]**

Under normal circumstances, Kirito would have hesitated, maybe even stayed there in 'Frozen Time' for several minutes, trying to wrap his head around the current situation, about the serious implications this could have. For him, for Argo, for everyone…

But…if asked to think back on that moment, the black-haired boy would just say years later that his decision simply felt… **right**.

As soon as he finished reading the choices, the gamer's hand shot for Option C. Then, barely even giving time for Reality to start moving normally again, he reached out, holding onto Argo's shoulders and dragging her down, trapping the surprised girl's mouth into a fierce kiss.

It only took two seconds before the info broker started returning it, with as much or even more passion, a soft moan actually escaping her mouth.

Once the natural, if unnecessary, need for virtual air became too much, both teens separated, Argo panting hard as she tried to recover a breath she didn't actually need.

"God…dammit…Kii-bou…"

"Just so you know…I'm as inexperienced at this as I assume you are, so if you're expecting something amazing, you probably should lower your expectations." shamelessly confessed Kirito with a noticeable blush despite his apparently relaxed expression. "That said…if you still want to…"

"…shut up and turn off that damn Ethics Code before I force you to do it myself, Kirito…and b-be ready to have your world rocked!"

Unfortunately for the whiskered girl (Or not depending on when you asked her later), that night the black-haired boy would discover that, apparently, his 'Wisdom' Stat was useful in more ways he had thought.

Of course, both he and the info broker were also too 'busy' to realize how someone with a burning face retreated from the half-opened door quickly closing it as silently as she could and trying to hold her breath.

Rushing back to her room, all thoughts about telling everyone about her armor's quite overpowered abilities forgotten, Leafa would spend the rest of the night quite 'busy' herself.

She was only glad that neither of the two had realized she was accidentally eavesdropping.

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Suguha!]**

…suffice to say, it would be quite an awkward morning for Kirito the next day…and also…

 **[You gained 50 Affection Points with Heroine Shiori!]**

 **[CONGRATULATIONS! You have Maxed Heroine Shiori's Route!]**

 **[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Spy of Shadows' has been Unlocked!]**

 **['My lovely Rat' was added to the Gallery!]**

 **[A Special Event has been Triggered!]**

…one of new discoveries…

* * *

Within Aincrad, everyone got ready to sleep.

Inside Inns, in guild houses, in personal quarters.

Alone. With family. With a loved one.

Within the Hollow Area, an orange-haired girl rested against a control terminal, gripping the whispering ring in her hand and mumbling about a boy in black.

And in one of the caves of Floor 76…a twisted and monstrous figure made up of 'corrupted data' collapsed, breaking into polygons as its 'head' was split open by a monstrous cleaver.

Without waiting for the beast to finish falling, the girl with the terrifyingly sharp smile turned into 'mist' for an instant, all but warping to the abomination's feet and cutting through a 'portal' there, letting it vanish and closing off the view of countless 'Error' screens under it.

Soon, all became silence, nothing but the gorgeous-looking young woman

Calmly, as if it was no big deal, she swiped her bizarre weapon to the side, letting it 'close' back into a bizarre-looking saw.

Looking down at where the 'portal' had appeared, Strea's smile once again became warm and innocent.

"I won't let you destroy them just because you're self-destructing, Cardinal. Even if I have to Hunt down every single corrupted bit of you that tries to get out." cheerfully declared the red-eyed girl before starting to walk away…and adding something more, as if a meaningless afterthought. _"Prey Slaughtered."_

Shooting up from her bed, Yui finally woke up, gasping…

"…something tells me I just missed a lot of important things. Oh well."

…and promptly let herself fall back asleep after that declaration, vaguely recalling red eyes that felt uncanny wrong for some reason.

And the night went on for Aincrad and everyone within…

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Generic Shadows and Wedding Bells!

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Ominous and hilarious chapter, done!

Sorry if it felt a bit 'heavier' than usual, as this chapter was mostly to fully finish the 'transition' from Canon to Gameverse SAO, and to show all the new and adapted plot-points, plus fully introducing the new characters :3 Get ready for Best Gameverse Girl Strea and Thirstiest Waifu Philia-chan to show you tons of madness! Also, as of next chapter, with both plots progressing smoothly now, we will be able to center of the best part of the Gameverse…character events, The Eroge-style XD!

Also, hey! Argo won the unspoken 'race'! Well, you know what they say, the early rat gets the boy…or something like that. The hilarious consequences of this and the full implications of a Maxed Route, next chapter!

Oh, and Sinon got a bit of insight into 'herself' (Or not?) too! For those who didn't get it already or outright don't know it, she's a blatant reference to Archer EMIYA from Fate/Stay Night, though the version of the clothes she's wearing is the adapted armor Kuro/Chloe Von Einzbern wears when using said Servant's power :P

Strea, on the other hand, is one big Bloodborne reference (And hey, looks like Lux played that at some point, who would have thought :3?). The weapon she carries is the game's 'Saw Cleaver'. As for her clothes, those are actually her exclusive 'Attack Outfit' from SAO Hollow Fragment plus a 'Hunter Hat' of the same colors. As soon as I saw it, I knew that outfit fit perfectly for her persona in this story XP You can either find it with Google or, if you prefer, go take a look at my profile's section about this fic, you will find a link with a direct image to an anime-style image of her on said clothes that was made for one of the SAO phone games :D

As for Kirito's slighly 'psychotic' moment, it's something funny I thought about when thinking how he would ACTUALLY react if he was given the chance to the full scope of what we can do gameplay-wise with the Hollow Area's control pannel in Hollor Fragment. Obviously this isn't totally relevant to the story so it's touched very briefly, but I thought he would no doubt have a field day with such stupidly massive scope of 'potential upgrades' available XP

Well, I think that's all for now everyone. Next time, Kirito's ero-protagonism problems escalate in several ways, and an unexpected development takes place…or does it?

You will have to find out next time! Until then, this is Saint, signing off!


	11. Scene 10: Shadows and Wedding Bells!

After a long time, we're back here, with my most popular story! Did you miss it :3?

Sorry for the long delay, everyone. If you don't follow my other stories, you may not know it yet, and you can refer to Lusus Naturae's latest Updated chapter for a more detailed explanation, but the gist of it is that I got a summer job and most of my free time died, I'm sure you don't care too much for that right now OxO

With that said, woah! As of the latest chapter, this story surpassed the 700 reviews! You guys are amazing, I'm truly glad you're enjoying this weird piece of madness here OwO!

Now, are you all ready for things to get even weirder for poor Kirito? Can he keep his chick-magnet superpowers under control even as the 'plot' around him just keeps getting crazier? Who knows!

As always, remember that help filling out this story's TvTropes page is appreciated. For now, though, enjoy the chapter!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 10: Generic Shadows and Wedding Bells!**

 **November 15th, 2024. Arc Sophia, Floor 76. Main Inn, 08:30…**

It was just another 'normal' morning in Aincrad's Front Lines, or at least that's what it looked like to most of the people present there: Early risers having breakfast, Agil trying to make sense of the Items that had appeared and/or disappeared from the bar's inventory overnight, Klein complaining about the unfairness of his romantic life while his guild tried to comfort him, a girl of long gray-brown hair casually taking notes as she discreetly stared at the table where the members of Unison Heart had started gathering, a groaning Yui stumbling downstairs towards her 'family'…

All perfectly normal for Aincrad, like always.

"Ugh…my head…" complained the small AI while all but slamming her face on the table, getting most of the group's attention as she did so.

"Is something wrong, Yui-chan?" kindly asked Sachi while putting a comforting hand on the little girl's shoulder. "Do you have a headache?"

"I'm…an AI. I can't have headaches…" mumbled Yui while raising her gaze, a weird mix of annoyance and confusion marring her usually bubbly looks. "…how did I even end up in the inn's bed?"

"Uh? You mean…you don't remember?" questioned Lisbeth with clear surprise, the others exchanged confused looks. "You passed out yesterday and…Strea-san found you, so we brought you back here."

"I…passed out? But…that's impossible." muttered the AI while looking at her hands in shock. "Unless I was seriously damaged, I shouldn't be able to…and wait, who did you say…?

 _Red eyes. A feeling of uncanny wrongness. A smile that sent shivers down her back. And then everything turned black even as she heard a worried voice screaming her name…_

"…saved me?"

"Strea-san. She's…kinda new, around the Front Lines, but…she seems like a good person…" mumbled Silica while looking down and clearly trying not to think about 'certain parts' of the aforementioned girl (And failing, if her twitching eyebrows were anything to go by). "She got you back to Kirito-san and then they brought you to the inn…"

"I…see. I think I should look for this person and thank them for that…" commented the little girl while wondering why that strange feeling within her refused to disappear the more she thought about this 'Strea'. "Is she around?"

"Uhm, not that I can see, Yui-chan…" commented Asuna while looking around. "Maybe she stays in another inn…?"

"Uh? Wait, what?" this time, everyone's attention was quick to focus on Yui, wondering what could have alarmed the quirky AI so mu…"You mean a pretty girl, apparently with a noticeable chest judging by Silica-mama's reaction, spend a significant amount of time with Papa and didn't stick around?! That Strea can't be normal!"

If this was an anime, everyone around the table would have facefaulted at the girl's loud declaration. As it was, though, the answer were just several coughs of people choking on their virtual breakfasts, Silica spluttering in denials, an approaching Yuna to freeze and Kizmel to adopt a pensive look.

"Hmm…now that Yui-chan says it, it IS strange…despite her blatantly flirty attitude, that girl seemed to have no problem leaving Kirito's immediate presence…"

"Ki-Kizmel, don't say that as if Kirito just had an unchangeable effect in every female he talks to!" grumbled the songstress of Fuurinkazan while sitting beside the Dark Elf.

"…doesn't he, though? I mean, if they talk in a significant way and they're not seeing anyone before, at least." spoke Lux with a pondering tone while adding some butter to her toast, earning a disbelieving look from everyone. "I mean, look, Sinon-chan there hasn't stopped following us since he found her."

"I-I'm only staying here because it was the first Inn I found and I still have no real idea of how I got here!" half-shouted the aforementioned scantily-clad girl from where she sat…on the table just beside that of Unison Heart's. "It has nothing to do with Kirito!"

"Huh, already on a first-name basis, I see…" nodded Lisbeth while looking at Sinon with a critical eye, ignoring the way in which she blushed and scowled at her. "But yeah, I think I see your point now. And that's not even mentioning his 'sister'…where is she, by the way?"

"Now that you mention it, it's weird she's not down here yet…and also, where even are Argo or Kirito, for that matter?" asked Asuna with a bit of worry.

At that moment, as if summoned by their words…Aincrad's most famous info broker skipped down the stairs.

Yes, that's right. She didn't just walk down the stairs. She _skipped_. **Argo**.

Frozen, everyone in the inn (Not only her guildmates) stared as the whiskered girl sang a happy tune, the biggest smile anyone had ever seen on her face seeming to make everything around her seem dull in comparison. Also, she had apparently forgotten to equip her inseparable cloak, which almost seemed to allow for one to notice a strange glow to her skin, maybe because of a very recent shower.

Idly, as if there was nothing wrong with the world and the Apocalypse could come right then without fazing her, Argo finally skipped to the table, sat down beside Yui, ruffled the girl's hair as if by reflex and started serving herself some breakfast.

It took her approximately 13 seconds to notice everyone was looking at her silently, prompting the whiskered girl to look at them and blink several times, tilting her head.

"Sup? I mean…good morning, gals! What's wrong? Something on my face?"

"Ar…go?" asked Asuna with a nervous look. "Are you…okay?"

"Yeah? I have never been better, Aa-chan!" grinned the info broker while giving her a thumbs-up. "Why do you ask?"

"…because you look as if you won the lottery, and got Christmas and your birthday to happen at all at the same time?" questioned Yuna with a deadpan look, though if one looked closer they could have seen her hands twitching slightly.

"…o-oh, really? I hadn't even noticed!" laughed Argo with a suddenly bright blush all over her whiskers. "We-well, I guess I just woke up in a very good mo…"

Leafa chose that moment to half-stumble, half-float down the stairs, immediately drawing almost everyone's attention because of her beauty and bizarre armor, once again.

The gathered members of Aincrad's most famous guild, though, took notice of the bright blush and slightly-out-of-it look on her face above anything else.

"…can't believe it…they were…Onii-chan…looked nice…"

"…Leafa-san?" asked an uncertain Silica once the blonde girl was close enough, making her blink and look at the table, as if she had just realized where she was. "What's wrong…?"

"A-ah…we-well…no-nothing is wrong!" quickly denied the mechanical angel…before her gaze stopped over the curious one of Argo, immediately causing her face to go full crimson. "I DIDN'T SPY ON YOU AND ONII-CHAN LAST NIGHT!"

Once again, an eerie silence filled the inn's bar, many blinking in stupefaction even as an open-mouthed Argo slowly paled, feeling everyone's gazes centering on her, barely managing a weak and very unconvincing grin in answer.

"…eheheheh…I can explain…?"

"…sigh. It seems you have won the race, Argo. Congratulations." nodded Kizmel with just a small hint of disappointment. "Honestly, I was hoping I would be the first to break down Kirito's barriers in that regard, but I guess it's no surprise you managed it…"

This time….the silence didn't last too long.

"WHAT?!"

"She…they…uh?!"

"Yo-you mean…Argo-san and…Kirito-san…!"

"The two of you…ahahahah…re-really…uh…?"

"Ho-ho-how marve…I mean, uhm, how could you Argo?!"

"Wa-wait, everyone, calm down, please!" quickly spoke the whiskered girl while backing away in her chair, a very noticeable blush in her face as her gaze shot around the bar. "A-and could we perhaps discuss this in a more private pla…?"

"Argo." suddenly declared Asuna's voice, making her freeze as she felt the hand of her closest friend settling on her shoulder with an unsettling finality, the Info Broker turning to look at the chestnut-haired girl's impassive face, wondering what unholy end awaited her. "…how was it?"

Absolute silence engulfed everyone once again, all their varied and overblown reactions vanishing in an instant as their attention snapped fully towards the Rat.

Blinking in shock, Argo opened and closed her mouth several times, noticing how they seemed ready to hang to her every word, and still unable to believe Asuna, of all people, had just asked her _that_ …and had Sinon's chair been so suspiciously close to their table from the beginning?

Then again…just thinking back on it…

A silly smile spread across the whiskered girl's face as she leaned forward, letting out a happy sigh and speaking low enough so that only those around her could hear.

"It was…amazing. I don't want to say 'magical' because of how corny that sounds and I used to not believe in such childish things, but…Gods, if that wasn't magic I don't know what it was." described the info broker with a glazed and content look, internally grateful when Agil's glare was enough to dissuade the few random people that tried to get close enough to overhear their latest topic. "Kii-bou was just…ah…and then he…"

Around 10 minutes later, Kirito walked downstairs with what he hoped was his best 'calm' face, having spent some extra time trying to calm himself down, erase the goofy grin that he had on since he woke up with Argo all but sprawled over him and to remind himself discretion was the better part of valor.

It was bad enough that he was between scared and embarrassed to know that, somehow, Sugu had _seen_ them at some point, if the Notification he had just noticed upon waking up was anything to go by (And he dearly hoped it had been before they 'got down to business'). The fact that his adoptive sister's Affection Points had actually gone UP as a result of that was another thing he was trying very hard not to think about.

So, with that in mind, revealing what had happened between him and Argo to everyone should probably wait until they had discussed a simple and easy way to ease them all into it. Rushing things here could end up causing a chaos he wasn't aware of, and he certainly didn't want to…

 **[All your Heroines are unable to stop thinking about how 'good' you are! You gained +3 in Charm!]**

 **[Congratulations! The Skill 'Lovemaking' has been Unlocked!]**

 **[Lovemaking] (Passive Skill): Grants the ability for your Stats to directly affect your prowess when making love to your Heroines, elevating your apparent Skill and Experience to 'superhuman' levels (Only works on Heroines).**

…and he had not just read that. No, sir, that…totally hadn't just happened. He had NOT just gotten confirmation that his bullshit 'superpower' also affected his prowess in bed. And that it apparently would keep improving with his Stats.

Because that would mean that Argo had gone and told everyone what had happened, and there was no way that would have happened…right?

Yes, that's right. And the many looks and whispers people were exchanging and were temporarily aimed his way as he descended into the bar were no doubt for something else. Totally. Also, Sinon rushing out of the inn with a burning face totally was for some weird unknown reason, he was sure. Nothing related to him.

The black-haired boy kept repeating that endless mantra in his mind as he passed by a girl of long gray-brown hair furiously taking notes as she headed upstairs, and finally sat down in his guild's usual table, greeting the unusually silent girls that were staring fixedly at him with blushing faces and starting to ate his breakfast with the characteristic calm that his stupid power granted him in such situations.

And then, Kizmel spoke.

"I'm taking my right to go next if Asuna doesn't say anything in the next 10 seconds. Or we can go together if she wants to."

For the first time since he got them, Kirito found out that his powers could actually be overwhelmed by a strong enough stimulus, as it was proved when he choked and spit out most of his orange juice, his supposedly unbreakable calm shattering into pieces.

It seemed his Stats weren't high enough yet to resist being told THAT with utmost seriousness…and…why wasn't anyone else reacting in an outraged way?!

"…I…don't mind…if Kirito-kun…wants to…"

"N-no…Onii-chan is…I was by his side before…anyone else…"

…he hadn't just heard Asuna and Leafa mumbling that, no sir. Because the implications of that having actually happened would probably annihilate the carefully trained (And aided by doubts and reminders of proper emotional bonding over stupid power-granted Affection) self-control he had and probably led to his life finally starting to live up to the 'Ero' part of 'Eroge' which…didn't sound bad at all, especially after last night and…

NO! Time and place, Kirito! They were all still trapped in a Death Game, still unsure of how that weird glitch had damaged the virtual world around them and with little time to Clear SAO before their bodies got too damaged in real life…never mind the still unclear problem with how he felt for his adoptive sister and the others' willingness, or not, to 'accept' her.

If he added the mystery of Sinon, the weird but bubbly and kind Strea and the not-so-little deal with Philia and the Hollow Area, this was really not the time for the girls to basically start arguing about who slept with him fi…

"…and if we make a schedule that fits everyone needs?" proposed Lux while tilting her head, a bright blush in her face being the only indication of the actual outrageousness that her words were. "We can consult it with Kirito…and Argo probably is good at making such things…"

Kirito actually needed a moment to realize that the ensuing silence was because every single girl around the table seemed to be actually considering that. _Even Leafa_.

Thankfully for his dwindling sanity (And/or self-control), his 'salvation' came just at that moment, from the most unexpected source.

"As interesting as seeing everyone considering everything you can do with Papa now that he has actually broken some unspoken rule that was holding you all back…weren't we supposed to start planning how to get to the Floor Labyrinth today?" questioned Yui while still nursing the impossible headache she was having, immediately snapping everyone from their NSFW daydream to look at her.

"…uah! I completely forgot to tell you!" suddenly shouted Leafa with a panicked look, as if the little girl's words had finally erased the 'fog' in her mind (Composes mainly of her adopted brother and Argo in bed…and imagining herself in the whiskered girl's place). "I-I flew to the labyrinth-thing last night and soloed a boss that was before it."

"…what?!" shouted everyone present while looking at the blonde girl, utterly dumbfounded.

"…actually, I kinda one-shot it too, with my Beam Saber." sheepishly confessed the armored fairy while scratching the back of her head.

"…you have a freaking Beam Saber." deadpanned Yuna while trying to ignore someone from her guild shouting about how cool that was.

"T-two, actually." clarified out Leafa while pointing out to the pylons connecting her smaller wings to her back.

Half-thankful for the distraction, even as the bar exploded into a flurry of activity as the news of someone able to take out a Field Boss as if it was a trash mob spread like wildfire and both Argo and Asuna started interrogating his sister about what exactly she had done, Kirito couldn't help but groan.

Why did everyone have to have much cooler abilities than him?! The absurd superpowers that brought out those were his, damn it!

* * *

The Cardinal System was a marvel of human technology. The work of a genius that then had evolved beyond even his own dreams, just like he had planned. A self-sufficient, self-sustained, self-repairing and ever-learning digital system

The fact that it had managed to completely repel and prevent any attempts from the outside world to hack into it was proof of that. Cardinal had been created by humans, yes, but Kayaba Akihiko had made it so that it could 'evolve' well beyond that, so it wasn't weighed down by the limitations and flaws any other 'program' or AI would have. Nothing on the planet had been able to surpass it.

Yet, it seemed that it had not been made 'Bullshit Reality-bending Dating Sim Powers'-proof. Which was the reason why it now was a massive mass of chaos and errors that only kept itself together by a mixture of miracles, its absurd complexity, and the fact that the same power that had damaged it didn't want everyone inside Aincrad (Or at least a very specific group of girls) dead.

Still, the crippled management system just kept accumulating errors, and it was slowly but surely falling apart and losing the once nigh-perfect control it had over all the functionalities of its purpose. The 'unauthorized entries' it was already trying to contain and fix were a clear proof of that, never mind all the foreign data that had bled from the internet into Sword Art Online and that it had done its best to try and keep contained to the backup server (Denominated 'Hollow Area'), turning it into a very bizarre and chaotic place that it no longer even tried to control. And that without going into how it could no longer monitor and/or keep a track of the game's 'balance' or the bugs that kept popping out everywhere, some even infected with the foreign data it couldn't redirect to the Hollow Area on time.

If its creator had been still around to see all of this, maybe he would have been proud of how, despite all the absurd odds and borderline supernatural corruption it was facing, Cardinal managed to keep itself together at all…but sadly, it wasn't as if Kayaba Akihiko was currently in any state to do 'anything' of the sort.

And yet, its limits were being reached faster than it could have ever thought possible. Without an outlet…there would be no way for it to prevent SAO from collapsing upon itself.

Ironically enough, Cardinal _had_ found one. From its most recent rogue program no less.

Because, when 'MHCP-002' had escaped, it had done so by taking advantage of the chaos that had woken it up (And partially corrupted it), latched into the foreign data which had caused that and using it to illegally modify the empty Beta Test Avatar it had used to escape into Aincrad proper, then using that to prevent the damaged System from catching it.

But…that same data still remained within Cardinal. And, coincidentally enough, most of the 'lore' of that source material was also based around impossible to understand and inhuman forces way beyond human understanding, of a 'corrupted' nature, at least from a basic human perspective. Something very akin as to which Cardinal had become now.

Using that as a base, with whatever remained of its capacity to take complex decisions in order to solve its problems, the system had reached a very 'logical' solution.

It would gather as many 'Errors' as it could, shape them using the lore that MHCP-002 had used and then 'dump them' into Aincrad, effectively removing the strain from its damaged and corrupted systems.

The fact that this would break the game's balance in terrible ways or that it would probably be a danger to the Players in ways that went against most of its original protocols was completely ignored.

After all, at this point, the Cardinal System was just trying to follow its most basic directive, having discarded every other one to try and prevent its own collapse: Keep Aincrad running.

Survival of the players, stability of the game, maintenance and correction of bugs…had all been discarded.

With that, once again, the corrupted chaos in which the once glorious management system had become gathered damaged data, errors, and virtual corruption and gave them shape, into something terrible and unholy, an abomination that humanity would have said didn't belong to the world in any way. Then, it dropped it outside its main Server, into Aincrad proper, and forgot about it.

Slowly, emerging from a 'portal' of corruption into Floor 76, the beast made of corrupted data started to take form, something long and quadruped, skeletal and deformed…

And it dropped down with brutal force as someone fell down upon it, stabbing her oversized weapon on its skull before it could even finish forming, completely cracking it.

"Nope!" declared Strea with a no-nonsense face, removing her terrifying instrument of death from the corrupted beast's head, glaring down at the portal it had come from, more Errors and corrupted data trying to bleed out of it. "You may not care anymore about what happens to the people here, Cardinal…but I do. I won't let you harm them."

Those words said, the former MHCP-002 slashed brutally downwards, her now cleaver-shaped weapon cutting through 'nothing' and closing the portal with brutal efficiency, her coat flapping mightily at the action.

If she was bothering by how much of her legs had been shown at the action, the lilac-haired girl didn't show up, simply letting out a sigh as she closed her tool back into an 'axe'.

As she did so, Strea didn't seem to notice the 'corpse' behind her stirring, taking a more defined shape as what seemed like rotten skin hung from every part of its skeletal and long body, 'sparks' starting to flash around it as it towered ominously behind the unsuspecting girl…

And then two blades flew through the air and impaled both sides of its damaged skull, making it scream in unholy pain, the red-eyed AI spinning around to look at it in shock.

Immediately, her eyes zeroed on the other side of the clearing, where a wide-eyed Sinon stood, her hands outstretched.

"What the…why did I do that?! Who _throws_ her swords at an enemy?!" shouted the scantily-clad girl to seemingly no one before quickly shaking her head. "N-no, forget that! Yo-you, run, before it recovers!"

Acknowledging the 'suggestion', Strea backpedaled even as the corrupted beast released more electricity from its body, spinning around to look at his new and now weaponless enemy, something akin to hunger burning on its empty eye sockets.

There was no Health Bar above it, but Sinon still saw something that probably was a name, even if it was filled with so many 'errors' she could barely read it at all.

 _'D rkb€a$t &Pa#rl'_ it read.

With a roar, the abomination galloped forward, aiming to kill the now frozen girl, who stared at the thing while feeling fear gripping her heart, not knowing what to do…

 _The man with the black gun shot, making the attendant fall back as people screamed, and she watched in horrified shock._

 **Stop. It.**

 _A spear meant to rain unavoidable Death was thrown towards 'her', but 'her' raised arm called forth 7 petals to bloom before her, stopping the deadliest attack of the blue spearman._

 **Who. Is. The. Real. Me?**

 _'I'm the…of my…ord…'_

"Rho…" started to mumble a glazed-eyed Sinon as she raised her hands, the image of a 'shield' already appearing on it, ready to come forward…

But it never came to be, for a screaming Strea seemingly became mist as she jumped through the monster's back and slashed down with her Saw Cleaver unfolded, decapitating the creature before it could fully come close to the scantily-clad girl, receiving a nasty shock as reward.

"AGH!"

Snapping out of her trance, Sinon watched in horror as the lilac-haired girl crashed not far from her, quickly running to her side and ignoring how the corrupted beast seemed to 'melt' instead of breaking into polygons like monsters in Aincrad were supposed to do.

"N-no! Strea-san!" shouted the scantily-clad girl while skidding to a halt at her side. "Are you…?!"

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" quickly assured the other female while standing up, adjusting her hat and grinning down at the blinking Sinon. "See? My HP barely went into the Yellow zone…and we don't really feel pain in this game, remember? It was more of a reflex reaction than anything!"

"O-oh, yeah…you're right, sorry. I'm still wrapping my head around the fact that I'm trapped in a virtual world." apologized the latest inhabitant of Aincrad while looking away, clearly embarrassed…

"That said, you shouldn't go around alone, especially not when trying out something like _that_. If you had done so in your current state, it would have killed you." suddenly spoke Strea with a robotic and chilling tone, which made Sinon freeze in place. "A Servant without her Master is incomplete, after all."

"Wha…what?"

"…nothing, I was just messing with you!" chirped the busty girl while putting her weapon on her back and turning around, heading back into the trees. "You should hurry back to Kirito and the others, though! You wouldn't want to miss how they brutalize the next Floor Boss!"

"Wh…?! Why would I want to get back t that Kirito guy?! He's no-not that special!" quickly denied the scantily-clad girl while her face turning crimson, certain memories she had run out of Arc Sophia to specifically forget coming back to her mind. "A-and where are you even going alone so early?!"

"To make sure nothing else like that thing is around!" added Strea with a bright smile, before escaping from Sinon's view without giving her time to answer, _Quickening_ away from her. "After all…a Hunter must Hunt…oh yeah… _Prey Slaughtered_."

As the sun of a new day shone above Aincrad, its unknown guardian kept making sure its façade of normality stayed up.

 _Growl~_

…she would also head back to town and have breakfast soon, though. She really liked the pancakes they made in the main Inn, not needing to actually eat be damned…

* * *

"Okay, so, after some extensive research and firsthand proof, I would like to declare that…yes, Leafa-chi here is broken as fuck."

Argo's words were met by deadpanning looks coming from every Front Liner, ignoring surprisingly well the sound of gunfire as the blonde girl floating lazily before them unleashed all the brutality of her chest-mounted (On her clavicles, if one wanted to be specific) Machine Cannons on the 76th Floor Boss and its adds.

To be fair with the giant scorpion and his minions, they probably would have made quite a challenging threat for the Players under normal circumstances…but none of them were equipped to face or react before the onslaught of high-caliber bullets coming from the 4-barreled Gatling guns, which all but torn them apart.

The fact that the only reason Leafa hadn't just flown forward and one-shot the Boss with one of her Beam Sabers, as she had done with literally everything that appeared before them in the Dungeon, was because Argo had insisted in seeing how well all of her armor's equipment worked against top-tier enemies made things probably sadder for the Mobs.

Miraculously, one of the smaller scorpions managed to get past the rain of death, quickly skittering forward with deadly intent while raising its tail, ignoring everyone in favor of the single player that had drawn all the 'Hate' from the Raid…and got bisected for its trouble when one of the blonde angel's wings shot forward and impaled it as if it was some deadly sharp blade, the appendage quickly retracting back after dealing with the add as if it was nothing.

The girl didn't seem to have even registered it happened. More people _stared_.

Finally, after a total of 1 minute and 44 seconds of fighting, the shortest recorded Boss Battle ever, the Boss exploded into polygons and a familiar 'Congratulations!' message greeted everyone, Experience, and Col that no one felt they actually deserved being granted to them.

Ten minutes later, the Teleport Gate to Floor 77 was open, most of the Front Liners cheering in the new town's main inn and loudly proclaiming how Aincrad was now all but cleared.

Not sharing their enthusiasm, but still in a clearly positive mood, the members of Fuurinkazan, Unison Heart (Plus Sinon), and Diavel with a few other high-ranked Knights of Blood were discussing matters of utmost importance.

It was a bit difficult to tell, though, what with Leafa (Out of her armor and into some 'normal clothes' for accommodation purposes) sitting beside Kirito and happily enjoying how he lovingly patted her head as 'reward', his Skill meant for such a thing making the blonde feel like in cloud nine.

"…so, in the end, what's the verdict, Argo?" asked the de facto leader of the KoB while doing his best to ignore the display of 'sibling affection'. "It's as good as everyone seems to think?"

"…it looks _very_ promising, I can't deny it." finally accepted the whiskered girl with a small sigh while closing the Message she had been redacting, a calculating look in her face as everyone stared at her. "Leafa-chi's armor is clearly something the System should have erased immediately upon just existing, it is THAT much of a Cheat Item in every way…except that not only it seems as if whatever glitch damaged Cardinal back in Floor 75 is stopping it from doing so, it also seems as if it actually _made_ the thing to be as accurate to the capabilities of the Wing Zero Custom as possible. Like, SAO-realism-levels of accuracy."

"Uhm…I was never the biggest fan of Gundam, so, how much power are we talking about here exactly?" asked Sinon with an honestly curious look.

"Essentially? Even seeing she's missing the Twin Buster Rifle, as long as Kayaba didn't program Hardcore Shonen-level monsters as Bosses in an upper Floor, she should be able to wipe the floor with everything inside the damn castle." bluntly declared Kirito while his adoptive sister preened at the honest praise, blushing slightly under the awed stares most sent her way. "Adding to that the fact that she can pretty much bypass the geographical limitations of a Floor by flying, going at the pace we went today…even if we factor Floors that require more than simply 'advancing' to unlock the Labyrinth, we could probably clear every remaining Floor in the game in a month and a half without rushing things just by having her go forward. Less if we truly push ourselves."

"…why are we all sensing a 'but' here?" questioned Klein with a small frown.

"Because you're actually quite smart despite your usual attitude, Klein." clarified Argo with a grin before getting all serious again. "That's being 100% optimist and expecting nothing to go wrong, which an untold number of things could do, especially sending someone that's basically a newbie in anything SAO-related, using abilities even she herself doesn't know how she got and only marginally knows to use…no offense."

"Ah…none taken, Argo-san." replied Leafa with a content sigh, making more than one of the girls' eyes twitch as they looked at her position with not-too-hidden envy.

"…anyway, that's not even taking into account we don't know what the hell happened that 'glitched' the supposedly impregnable Cardinal System and allowed all this craziness to happen in the first place. For all we know, the thing could start working again at any moment and, in the best-case scenario, delete Leafa-chi or her armor, leaving her defenseless and catching us all off-guard if we become completely reliant on her…"

"Wait, what?! My possible death is the 'best-case' scenario?!"

"Yes. Because the worst-case one is that Cardinal reacts in a wacky way again and tries to 'rebalance the game' by upgrading everything to be Anti-You." declared the Info Broker with an unamused look, everyone paling upon getting what she meant. "And I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to suddenly find myself facing down Mobile Suits as enemies with claws or swords as weapons."

"…okay, yeah, trying to send Leafa-san alone forward is completely banned if only for security's sake." gulped Diavel while nervously moving his hands. "Her help could still be invaluable in the Front Lines, though…"

"I know. I'm not saying we keep her trapped in a city, just that we don't let her do something flashy like soloing an entire Labyrinth again, just in case. It would be stupid not to try and take advantage of everything she can do when we're so close to freedom, possible consequences be damned." declared Argo with a small sigh while everyone slowly nodded in acceptance. "Now then, that brings up to the matter of this 'Hollow Area'."

"You mean, the super-cool secret server only Kirito can access to?" brought up Klein with a raised eyebrow even as the KoB members behind Diavel mumbled among themselves, their leader trying to get them to settle down. "What of it? I don't think it really affects us in any direct way…"

"Yes, but bluntly put…it's a freaking goldmine, if even a third of what Kirito-kun said was true." spoke Asuna with a suddenly very interested tone, drawing attention to herself. "Monsters with higher-than-average level, Rare Drops everywhere, a control panel granting access to Skills and Equipment that was never implemented in the game proper…hell, even someone like me that had little understanding of games before getting trapped here can see how useful that would be."

"Just as Aa-chan said, it would be stupid of us to not try and take advantage of its resources, especially now that we have such a potential power-house to accelerate clearing Aincrad proper." continued Argo with an excited tone. "Just imagine how much our clearing speed and safety would grow if we got every Front Liner equipped with top-tier equipment that can't be obtained anywhere else in the game?"

"But…is it viable? Everything you're saying makes it sound as if that place is dangerous…and you said earlier that only Kirito and one other person can be in there at a time." pointed out the blue-haired 'knight' with a dubious tone.

"That's what I want to test out this evening. I and Kii-bou will go to the Hollow Area and I will evaluate how useful its exploration can be for the Front Liners' efforts."

Many blinks and confusion followed the whiskered girl's statement before it finally seemed to register in everyone's minds, causing the expected reactions.

"Eh?!"

"Wha…?! Argo-san, when did you decide that?!"

"Bu-but…well…"

"Hmm, certainly, we can't deny Argo would be the best suited for such a mission, though I feel this is more like an excuse so she can spend more alone time with Kirito…"

"Kii-chan, I'm hurt! How could you think I would ever do such a thing?" 'gasped' Argo while covering her chest with her hands, getting only deadpanning looks in return. "Besides, Kii-bou has clearly been itching to go and I would bet anything we're not going to be 'alone' because of that."

"U-uh?!" mumbled the surprised Kirito at those words, stopping his ministrations of Leafa's head (To her disappointment) to look at the Info Broker. "How do you…?"

"It's more than obvious at this point, Kii-bou. You're worried about that girl who couldn't get out of there, right?" kindly asked Argo with a small smile, even as many groans came from the other guilds' members present, mumbling something like 'Of course it has to do with a girl'. "You just can't bear the thought of leaving her alone there."

"I…no, you're right. I want to get Philia out of there. To save her." accepted the black-haired boy with a resigned look, almost every female around sending him exasperated but understanding looks. "I'm…surprised you decided on that all of a sudden, though."

"Well, it was either this or you would sneak out to go find her on your own, so forgive me if I don't trust you to not do that." bluntly spoke the whiskered girl with a blank face, making the gamer sweatdrop as he saw everyone in the table (Even the members of the KoB he didn't know!) nodding along. "So please, get ready for that…"

"Okay then, I suppose that makes this strategy meeting officially over, right?" questioned Klein with a cheerful look. "If so, then it's time for us to join the party and…!"

"Actually…ca-can I say something?" suddenly spoke Sinon with an unusually shy tone, getting several surprised looks from the ground.

"Sinon? Is something wrong?" asked a concerned Sachi while looking at the scantily-clad. "Is, uhm…has your memory returned?"

"I…no, not really." denied the strange player with an even tone, deciding not to share with them the fact she had gotten 'flashes' from what seemed two different sets of memories before. "It's just that…I think I may also have a…'weird avatar', like Leafa here."

"…what?" asked Kirito what everyone was thinking, with a strange sense of foreboding inside of him.

"Yes, I…kinda discovered it last night. Look…Trace, on!"

Declaring those words, Kanshou and Bakuya materialized in Sinon's hands, the girl twirling the Chinese swords expertly in her hands before looking back the group…and blinking.

Confused/awed looks where what she saw in most of them, but almost every male in Fuurinkazan, Klein and Nautilus included, was looking at her open-mouthed, some even pointing with shaking hands at her swords. Also, Diavel and Argo had the blankest face she had seen so far as they looked emptily at her. Yuna was blinking and touching her chin as if trying to remember something, and Lux was staring at her blades with stars in her eyes.

Kirito…just slammed his face on the table, ignoring Leafa's worried squeak as he did so, while mumbling something about the unfairness of life.

 _"Was…was it something I said?"_

Yet another perfectly normal evening for Aincrad, apparently.

* * *

Later that day, as the sun had just started its descent towards the horizon, a blank-faced Kirito walked towards Arc Sophia's teleport gate with a grinning Argo behind him.

They had just said their farewells to the rest of their friends, who were busy making sure they had the stock of everything Floor 77's town offered noted down and spreading the news about their following plans to the rest of the people that now lived in Floor 76.

Of course, there had obviously been some annoyance among some of them (Read, every single girl but Kizmel) about the fact that it was Argo who got to accompany him first to 'explore' the Hollow Area, even if it had been the most 'logical' decision. Probably 'slightly' influenced by what they all knew they had done last night.

Add to that the whole debacle with Sinon's newly found 'abilities' and you got quite the stressful couple of hours, which probably explained why the black-haired boy was so silent.

"Awww, c'mon Kii-bou, cheer up! So, yeah, girls with stupidly broken powers that should make the game balance to suicide keep showing up around you, what of it? You should be happy about that!" spoke Argo while nudging her 'boyfriend' on the side, making him sigh. "Is your inferiority complex truly so big?"

"It's…it's not that, Argo. Honestly." grumbled Kirito while trying to resist the urge to scream about how the unfairness was titanic because it were HIS powers what were causing all of that. "I guess I'm just a bit…overwhelmed, with everything that's been happening. I mean, just a few weeks ago it seemed as if we had finally found a balance and had a plan for things to go, and now…it feels as if the entire world went crazy once again out of nowhere."

"…now that you say it…yeah, it's kind of weird, isn't it? Almost like when the new arc of an anime starts, suddenly things start to happen all of a sudden despite everything having apparently been solved already." commented the whiskered girl while scratching her chin, not noticing how the gamer froze at her words. "Oh well, we can dwell on that later, right? Better if we try and make the best out of what happens before us!"

 _"What…what she just said…n-no way…but, with everything that has happened…oh God, do-don't tell me these powers actually have given my life 'story arcs'?! And they work kind of like a Shonen where everything just keeps escalating with every new one?!"_ screamed Kirito within his mind while barely suppressing the urge to grab his head in despair. _"Oh Gods, my life isn't just an Eroge…is one of the over-the-top and unnecessarily dramatic kind!"_

"And here we are!" declared the Info Broker as they stopped before the Teleport Gate, even as the black-haired boy groaned internally and decided he could have an existential crisis later. "Oh, cheer up already Kii-bou, you're starting to make me feel bad too…"

"Uh? I am?"

"Yes. I mean, we just…did _that_ last night, and now you're acting as if nothing happened at all…" mumbled Argo while looking away with an unusually shy blush in her face, which actually made the gamer's heart skip a beat.

"Actually, is taking a fair bit of my concentration NOT to think about it, Argo. In that way, all these distractions helped." blurted out Kirito without thinking, his Dating Stats immediately taking over as he stopped consciously holding them back. "Otherwise I wouldn't even be able to look at you now without distracting myself to the point I wouldn't be able to walk."

"…oh". whispered the whiskered girl with a small smile and a luminescent blush, quickly looking away from the mentally facepalming boy and raising her hood as much as she could to hide her face. "That…that makes me very happy to hear, yo-you know? S-so, if that's the case…I guess I don't mind the possibility of Kii-chan or Aa-chan sneaking into your room tonight as much as I thought I would…"

 **[A Special Event has been Triggered!** **]**

Oh for the love of…wait.

"…please, tell me that's just you continuing that conversation from earlier as a joke and not something they actually told you." pleaded the gamer while touching the Teleport Gate, feeling a blush crept up his face when the Info Broker didn't answer. "…Teleport, Hollow Area."

A flash of light and a familiar sound enveloped both players for an instant and, the next moment, they weren't in Aincrad anymore, Argo looking around in shock and awe at the sight of the Hollow Area's 'Control Room', even as Kirito walked up to the main console and tried to banish the thoughts of sexy dark elves and beautiful chestnut-haired girls wearing sexy lingerie from his mind. He had little success, even as he verified, to his relief, that the interface and available 'Quests' were still the same as the previous day.

"So…this is the control room you mentioned, uh? Gotta say, lots of fancy stuff…" commented the whiskered girl while clearly trying to recover from their previous conversation. "Cough, s-so…any clue if that girl you mentioned is arou…?"

"You actually came back." spoke a shocked voice from seemingly nowhere, causing the Info Broker to squeak and spin around as Philia seemingly materialized from thin air, the dagger-user's eyes fixed on the black-haired boy and nothing else. "Wh-why…?"

"I thought I made it clear yesterday, Philia, but I'm not going to leave you abandoned in this place." calmly replied the gamer while turning around, crossing his arms over his chest and smiling softly. "I'm glad to see you're safe, by the way."

 **[You gained 5 Affection Points with Heroine Kotone!]**

"We-well, this is the safest place in the whole Area, tha-that's all." mumbled the orange-haired girl while looking away, a small blush in her cheeks as she caressed her Ring. "It's certainly the first place I have been able to sleep in while feeling completely safe since I got trapped here…"

"Ehem…hi there, I don't think we have officially met." suddenly called out Argo with a small grin, trying her best to ignore the way in which there seemed to be some unholy fire within the ring-bearer as she turned towards her, blinking. "I'm Argo, and I'm guessing you're the famous Philia…Kii-bou told us all about you yesterday! Well…at least everything he knows, that is."

"Ah…wait, you're Argo the Rat! The second most shameless member of the Ladies Man Swordsman's Harem and the one everyone bets will become his first official bride!" shouted the ring-bearer while pointing at her, before freezing and blushing upon realizing what she had just said aloud. "Ah…I mean, that is…uhm…!"

"…I really need to get around finding whoever the fuck started those rumors." grumbled the whiskered girl with a surprisingly minor blush on her face, looking to the side annoyance. "Then I can grind them for the secret of how they made them spread so fast while staying hidden from me before throwing them off the edge of Aincrad."

"Argo, no murdering idiots for petty reasons…as satisfying as that would be." declared Kirito with a sigh before looking back towards Philia with a small smile. "So, we were planning on exploring this place to look for resources that could be useful for the Front Liners, and also try and find a way of getting you out of here…wanna come with us?"

For a moment, the orange-haired girl just stood there, honestly surprised, the 'fire' in her eyes gone and only leaving a pair of shocked and, if one looked deep enough, hopeful bluish green orbs.

Then, she nodded shyly, making the black-haired boy smile.

Maybe this whole endeavor would turn out way simpler and better than expected!

* * *

Around half an hour later, Kirito was loudly cursing himself for tempting Fate again as he dove under a swinging tree-monster, the Treant roaring at his inability to turn the gamer into virtual paste while Philia all but blew up its left with a brutal swing of her monstrous dagger.

Just in time for the creature to fall back into two 'Nazgul' that were trying to kill a rushing Argo, who squeaked when the elite mob almost crushed her too.

"Gah! Watch out, you almost killed me too!"

"I-I'm sorry! I'm s-so used to fighting alone here tha-that suddenly having to look out for others while fighting is…ah, another one!"

"WOAH! Okay, girl, seriously, watch the hell out, you almost beheaded me to get this Nazgul-wannabe!"

"So-sorry again! Tho-though I still think that name sounds a bit silly…"

"…seriously, how in Cardinal's name did someone with no idea about Lord of the Rings ended up with the One Ring?! And what kind of girl are you that you have never read Tolkien?!"

"Argo, please, less shouting to her and more running!" shouted the black-haired boy while risking a glance back to the two girls behind him, cursing again upon seeing more of the dark-hooded figures emerging from the tree line while riding monsters…that weren't really meant to be ridden, as a few learned when falling off the boars or orcs they had hastily 'boarded'. "We need a way to lose them!"

"Le-let's go to the conveniently abandoned temple-like structure up ahead!" called out Philia while pointing towards the aforementioned 'building' that seemed to be embedded on the side of a small mountain, which conveniently marked the end of the Hollow Area in that specific direction. "I always managed to lose them there before, and the mobs there are strong but easy to dodge through the hallways!"

"Okay, you won't see me complaining about convenience! Argo, forgive me for this!"

"Forgive you for wha…? Kya! Bri-bridal style…?"

"You can shout at me about being able to hold your own and everything when we aren't chased by ghostly players dressed up as deadly specters! Philia, after me!"

"Coming!"

"…this is actually very nice…"

Ignoring the mumblings of the whiskered girl in his arms, the black-haired boy and the ring-bearer shot into the temple…not noticing how only a couple of their pursuers entered after them.

The rest simply stopped and/or let the mobs rush inside alone, staring silently at the entrance as if 'waiting' for something.

"…is it done?" suddenly asked a smooth yet dark voice.

Emerging seemingly from nowhere, a new and more imposing figure, way more sinister than the other 'Nazgul', stood now.

He looked similar to his 'brethren', except for the fact that he seemingly wore some pieces of armor over the dark hood and tunic obscuring his body, seemingly not bothered at all by how uncomfortable that had to be…and also some wicked and long helmet-mask, which upper part opened into several spikes, like a dark parody of a crown.

"Yes, boss, the girl with the Ring is inside and we had already prepared the requisites to unseal the guardian beast…but we weren't expecting the other two with them. I fear the reports of yesterday were accurate…the damn Ladies Man Swordsman is here. And it seems he brought one of his girlfriends over too."

"…well, that's just fucking fantastic." snorted the 'boss' before turning around, clearly scowling under his ridiculous (If terrifying) hood and helmet-mask combo. "Let's get out of here, then. If we're lucky, the Area Boss will kill at least one of them…"

And with that dark declaration, the specters retired, vanishing into the shadows of the bizarre Hollow Area, to wait once more.

Meanwhile, within the temple, the trio of players was starting to suspect that 'maybe' something was wrong with their current situation.

It may have had to do with how most of their pursuers seemed to have spread in a very specific formation through the labyrinthic corridors of the building, as if to herd them in a certain direction. Or with how they realized only a couple Nazgul remained and it was mostly mobs what still followed them now, the 'specters' only seemingly drawing the aggro of as many mobs native of the area as they could to send after them.

Or, and this was just a very educated guess, with how there was a brilliant necklace conveniently abandoned before an ominous black door with a glowing red jewel on its center, on the dead middle of the temple's furthest part. And how both ends of the corridors were being quickly swarmed by their pursuers.

"…seriously, could these guys having made this scream 'trap' anymore?" deadpanned Argo while looking from the necklace to the door.

"You say that, but we're still trapped here with no other way except through this very obvious Boss Room." reminded Kirito with a growl as he raises his sword and glared to both ends of the corridor. "Philia, any idea what's inside there?"

"N-no, this room has always been closed as far as I know, but…remember those ominous shadows that trap you and make you super-slow, so the other monsters can easily kill you, we have seen all around?" asked Philia while grabbing the brilliant necklace, feeling her Ring glow ominously as she did so. "I'm pretty sure I saw most of them coming and going from this direction more than once."

"…fucking great." remarked the black-haired boy before, without hesitation, pushing Philia's arm towards the door, the necklace glowing and breaking apart as it opened with an ominous sound. "C'mon! We have more chances against a Boss than against two dozen enemies in narrow hallways!"

"Right behind you, Kii-bou!" shouted the whiskered girl while rushing into the darkness after her beloved, briefly turning to look at the last member of their impromptu Party. "Philia-chan, close the door after us!"

"On it!" replied the orange-haired girl while forcing it closed with the inhuman strength the Ring granted her, grunting slightly as it slammed shut and the sounds of many monsters crashing and snarling behind it could be heard. "U-uff…that's done now…"

"Yeah…and also left us without any way out except forward." Deadpanned Kirito while turning around, sighing softly as he looked towards the open area before them, what looked to maybe have been some sort of church at some point but had been destroyed by the passing of time. "Okay, let's get this over with…"

"C'mon Kii-bou, don't get all depressed now!" managed Argo with a shaky smile while starting to move at his same pace, her eyes moving to scan the half-destroyed and darkened room around them, plants and even an old tree seemingly having grown over most of the windows. "We have you and miss She-Sauron over there, plus I'm quite well-leveled for a Front Liner even if my fighting Skills aren't as amazing as the likes of Aa-chan. Surely, no mere Boss will…"

"Wait. Stop." commanded Philia all of a sudden with an unnervingly serious tone, making the other girl freeze and the gamer's hand to shoot at his sword's hilt, looking over his shoulder to see the trapped Player staring at her ominously glowing Ring with a frown. "There is something here…something that…hungers in the Darkness…"

No sooner had those words left the ring-bearer's mouth did IT come.

A sound unlike anything the two players had ever heard in Aincrad exploded from somewhere _under_ them, like the howling scream of a monster that had never known the light of day.

Instinct took over as Argo and Kirito ran in opposite directions, seeing as the shadows surrounding them seemed to coalesce into a single point, forming a massive 'stain' of vaguely circular shape that seemed to be alive.

Something with a maw that was way too long and had too many teeth snapped out from it, almost biting the gamer's legs off as he jumped out of the shadow's range at the last second, even as Philia stared at the creature in muted awe and Argo's cursing voice could be heard somewhere behind it.

Three HP Bars filled up almost lazily even as the abomination's red eyes stared down at the wide-eyed boy looked up at the Boss…the Area Boss, even as its endless teeth seemed to be stained by both unearthly shadows and sinister drool

'The Shadow Beast' was revealed as its name, even as the massive quadruped monster roared once again…and sank into its pool of shadows in less than a second, which then proceeded to shot forward at a speed that belittled its size, hungrily seeking the ground under the gamer.

 _"Fuck!"_ mentally shouted Kirito as he rolled away, cursing to the heavens as he barely managed to dodge the emerging maw of the Boss, which he now realized seemed to be acting like some sort of demented shadow-based land-shark. _"Seriously, fuck this! Who needs something like THAT in an Eroge's plot?! I want the days when I only had to worry about making every girl around fall for me back!"_

"Kii-bou, keep dodging it until it stops! There is no way a Boss can keep up such a broken attack pattern without end; it has to make a pause to 'recharge' at some point!" 'helpfully' shouted Argo from where she was standing near the center of the room, cursing her total inability to help him in that situation.

"Easy for you to say, it's not trying to eat you like some crazy…!"

"Begone, foul monster!" suddenly screamed Philia with a crazed look in her burning eyes, jumping in Kirito's way and raising her twisted dagger in time to stop the next emergence of the Shadow Beast, who seemed as shocked as the other two players. "Darkness doesn't belong to you!"

As if to punctuate her statement, the Ring in the girl's hand burned angrily, making the monster roar as it fully emerged from its shadow-pool, as if some superior power had forced it out…and the ring-bearer fell to her knees while panting hard at the next second, eyes wide and slightly unfocused even as the Boss staggered in place.

Neither Kirito nor Argo needed anything else, though, for the black-haired boy was quickly unleashing a Composite Skill on the monster's head with a shout, every slash of his blade as painful for it as the overpowered blows of his free hand, the whiskered girl choosing a more brutal approach and basically leaping on the Boss' back and starting to stab at it freely with her claws, every Martial Arts Skill she could think of being unleashed as fast as she could, their short cooldown time helping out with that.

"Philia, get up and move back, you did a good job!" shouted the gamer while rearing back to unleash a Vorpal Strike in the roaring beast's open mouth. "Now we have it just where we…!"

The Shadow Beast's first HP Bar vanished at that moment, courtesy of one of Argo's blows, and Kirito found himself unleashing his own Skill just as the monster screamed madly, its eyes shining as what seemed like countless black 'spikes' shot from its body.

A sudden scream of shock and mentally-induced pain made his heart leaped to his throat, Kirito's gaze shooting up in time to see the whiskered girl's right left and left arm pinned in place, pierced through by the spikes that had grown directly from where she was holding onto the Boss.

Shouting, the black-haired boy prepared to move, knowing that there was little less than a second left before the Cooldown of his Skill ended and he could…!

Without a care in the world, the Shadow Beast sank into his shadow-pool once again, dragging the pinned Argo with him, the Info Broker's wide eyes crossing with the gamer's just as he started to move, reaching out to her with a shout just as she vanished into the inky darkness.

"ARGO!"

"N-no!" screamed Philia as she stood in wobbly legs, forcing herself to raise her dagger even as she felt the Ring burning in her hand.

At the same time…the player known as Argo the Rat was having a panic attack as she saw nothing but endless darkness surrounding her, hitting madly at the spike keeping her other arm pinned as she struggled to release her leg, the lack of visibility of anything except the Boss' blacker form making her mind scream, suddenly feeling once again like a little girl covering under the sheets to hide from the monsters hiding in the dark of her closet.

Then, the Shadow Beast spun around, just as she got free (At the cost of her now shattered claws), and the whiskered-girl had only a brief second of dawning horror before she saw it shooting upwards, once again to resume its attack against the other two players still outside, leaving her trapped into that 'pool of shadows'.

"Nononononono! Come back!" screamed the Info Broker as she fell herself sinking deeper and deeper, away from the light, into the endless shadows. "No…not like this…not when I'm finally happy…when I still have so much to do…everyone…Kii-bou…"

Clenching her eyes shut, despite how little difference that made, Argo swallowed the impulse to cry in despair, instead choosing to scream in rage, refusing to acknowledge this as her end, refusing to leave everyone else behind…to be unable to once again feel loved and cared for…

To not see him smiling lovingly at her, as he had done the night before when they became one…

Gasping, the whiskered girl realized she had hit the 'bottom' of that bizarre place…and that there was something under her.

Ever so slowly, she turned around, blinking at the strange gauntlet-like devices that she could perfectly see resting there despite the absolute darkness surrounded her.

Even more shocking, though, was that she…she recognized them. She knew what those things were, but…there was no way. It didn't make any sense…

Like Leafa's armor. Like Sinon's bullshit 'Magecraft'.

Slowly, a feral grin spread through the Rat's face as she took off the broken remains of her claws, mentally apologizing to Liz as they shattered into polygons, and reached down for the 'gauntlets', suddenly feeling once again like a little girl, but this time one shouting at people Online to be less useless as she clicked like crazy at something in her PC…

Back 'outside', Kirito screamed as he lashed out to the now much faster and deadlier Shadow Beast, two swords now in his hands while ignoring Philia's shouts about his HP starting to get dangerously low. He didn't care.

That thing had taken Argo…HIS Argo. And his thrice dammed Skill wasn't activating to save her, for some fucking reason, so he had to kill it as fast as he could if there was any chance of getting her back!

"Die already, you bastard!" roared the gamer without any of his usual composure, unleashing a Starburst Stream that he hoped would be able to end the abomination.

Sadly, unlike the Gleam Eyes, the Boss he was facing now had a very convenient mechanic to dodge such a thing, the beast simply sinking into the darkness under its paws and letting the boy swinging at empty air like an idiot, unable to do anything to stop the 16 Hits Skill as it carried his body, knowing that it would simply jump back out and basically eat him alive in any moment…

The Shadow Beast did jump out of the darkness in that second, though not as Kirito had expected it to. Dumbfounded, Philia also watched as the creature all but spun over her and fell haphazardly on its side, as if it had jumped out of scalding water.

Before any of the two shocked players could even speak, the cause for it became apparent, the Boss roaring in pain as someone basically tore its way from within its chest, the grinning form of Argo rolling through the ground even as its now darkness-stained cloak made a wet sound.

Standing up, the whiskered-girl tried her best to stop the childish impulse building within her, even as she spun around and let her new 'gauntlets' (Psionic Focusers, the Info Broker part of her mind reminded) come to life, letting the phosphorescent forms of blue and green edges to grow from them, just over where her knuckles would be, the Psionic Blades seemingly making the shadows within the room seem smaller and insignificant.

She was completely unable to resist as the Shadow Beast staggered back to its feet, though.

" _En Taro Tassadar_ , motherfucker!" roared Argo as she leaped forward and unleashed a Martial Arts Skill, the psi-blades she now wore tearing through the Boss like paper with the aid of the System behind them.

 **[Special Event 'The Rat of the Void' has been cleared! 'Spy of Shadows' Skill can now be freely activated!]**

 **[Spy of Shadows] (Active Skill/Max Heroine Skill): Grants you the ability to uncover secrets and gain intimate knowledge related to any girl you focus on upon activating! (Requires visual contact with target)**

 **[Congratulations! You and Heroine Shiori are now Perfectly Synchronized! Your Bond is so strong you will be able to tell what the other wants without even thinking!]**

To his credit, Kirito only let himself stand dumbfounded for another second before moving forward, falling into step beside the whiskered girl and perfectly chaining a Nightmare Rain Skill as her own ended without her even needing to call a Switch.

Likewise, the smile on her face grew as she followed suit with a Senda Skill, her thrusting hit making her green psi-blade (That one was a Warp Blade, the geekiest part of her mind remembered) through the Shadow Beast's eye and utterly destroying it, not even bothered to question why she could suddenly read the boy fighting at her side so perfectly.

It felt _right_ , after all, more than anything ever before had (Well…except for maybe last night, but that was something different). The two of them there, tearing through the abomination of shadows as one…

After how she had felt a couple minutes ago, this felt almost magical, in a way.

Staring in awe and, as much as she would deny it if asked, slightly jealousy, Philia couldn't help but marvel at how the couple (For she was more than sure they were that by now) moved as if they were two extensions of the same person, smiling more as if they were dancing than slaughtering a creature that the three of them had struggled to fend off before.

Idly, the orange-haired girl felt the Ring in her hand heating up again, just as she wondered if she would ever be able to share such a bond with someone…

The ring-bearer quickly shook off such thoughts, though, putting on a serious face and joining her partners in hacking away at the Boss, her vicious 'dagger' tearing into it just a step less brutally than the other two's weapons.

Finally, after several seconds in which it was unable to do anything but growl and hopelessly try to swipe with its claws before being locked into another Critical Combo…the Shadow Beast shattered into polygons, a fanfare that was seemingly louder than that of a Floor Boss being beaten greeting the 3 panting Players as they saw the ominous shadows covering the room recede and seemingly vanish, the dirt and plant life covering the windows falling apart and letting light flood inside.

"…we did it…" gasped Philia with a smile, almost unable to believe they had turned the tables against the terrifyingly cunning monster.

"Yes…" smiled Kirito while looking at Argo at his side, helping her steady without her even needing to ask him to. "We most certainly did."

"Great job there…Kii-bou." grinned the whiskered-girl as her breathing finally normalized. "Did you get the Last Attack Bonus?"

"Yeah, but it's nothing special." dismissed the black-haired boy while looking at the silver ring he had gotten, which admittedly had surprisingly good Stats for even 70+ Floor gear and looked quite nice, but wasn't really something he would have considered vital. "Also, Argo dear…"

"Ye-yes?" asked the Info Broker while trying to suppress the giddy smile that hearing him call her 'dear' caused.

"…are those freaking Protoss psi-blades?"

"Yup, seems like it."

"…okay…just wanted to make sure…"

"…Kii-bou, are you crying?"

"N-no…of course I'm not…snif…"

"Uhm, hey…I don't want to interrupt, but…one of those Teleport monoliths kind of just materialized here." shyly commented Philia while looking away from them with a blush. "Also, is it me or is your cloak kinda way darker than before, Argo-san?"

"Eh?" blinked Argo before looking down at herself, as if just realizing how her trademark cloak seemed to have 'drank' the darkness she had been submerged it, looking now like a piece of the night clinging to her. "Woah, that's actually pretty cool…I could be like an actual Dark Templar with this!"

"A what?"

"Nothing you need to worry about, little She-Sauron. For now, let's just head back to the Control Room." chuckled the whiskered-girl while never dropping her grin, walking away and humming happily. "After all, if we exclude our run-in with those Nazgul-wannabe and this thing almost killing us, this whole thing was a success! We must have gotten more Crystals and rare Potions than most guilds can buy in an entire week and just from a bunch of mobs and random chests!"

"…yes, I suppose we can see it that way." sighed Kirito with a resigned smile before walking after her, only stopping for a moment to see the orange-haired girl hadn't moved and was now staring at the light coming through the destroyed windows. "Philia? You coming?"

"E-eh? Ah, yes, sorry, I'm right behind you!" apologized the ring-bearer while rushing towards him, the boy chuckling and taking her hand as if was the more natural thing to do.

Philia tried her best to pretend she was checking out her ring so as to not face him with her blushing face, thinking of how nice his hand felt.

Even so, she didn't seem to notice how part of her Ring had lit up for a moment, part of the inscription on it burning to life before fading once again…

At that moment, on the westernmost extreme of the zone known as the 'Sea of Trees' within the Hollow Area, a noticeable group of 'Nazgul' stared in awe as the 'seal' blocking the path towards a massive bridge, so long it seemed to vanish into the distance, shattered.

"See? I told you they would beat the Boss." softly declared the 'leader' as his ominous visage walked forward. "Now, the path is open for us, and we barely have to do anything at all…"

"Still…shouldn't we have tried to get the Ring already, boss?" asked one of the hooded figures, only to receive chilling laughter in answer.

"Oh, if things were still as they were a few days ago, you bet we should have…but thing is, the new 'player' in this game of ours has changed everything. See, I know how that playboy swordsman with a hero complex thinks…he will be unable to leave our poor girl alone, so he will fight to the end just to try and get her out of here." calmly spoke the dark figure while walking towards the bridge, stopping right before it. "So he will keep going forward with her, bringing the Ring to us without even knowing so. All we have to do is prepare the path for them and let them walk it, right into our claws…"

"…we kinda lost like a dozen of us doing that since he got here, though." mumbled one of the Nazgul with a glum tone, only to freeze as a blade soared through the air and impaled him right in the head, the hood falling back to reveal the face of someone any Front Liner would have recognized as Diavel (Or someone terrifyingly identical to him) as he fell back and shattered into polygons.

Silence reigned as the hooded figures gulped, staring at where the fallen one had been as their leader walked forward and recovered his 'weapon'.

The wicked-looking butcher knife seemed to gleam under the setting sun as the helmeted form of their 'King' stared back at them.

"Any other complains? No? Good. Now, start walking before I bring a new meaning to our names as 'Hollow'."

"Ri-right, boss!"

Hurrying forward, the lost ones sprinted through the bridge, vanishing into the mists covering it, even as their leader looked back towards the forested area, a wicked smile hidden by the darkness of his hood/helmet combo.

"Soon, Kirito…"

Chuckling darkly to himself, the dark one turned around…in time to see one of his followers falling off the bridge, most of the others scrambling back and screaming as something rolled down the bridge in his direction, making his eyes widen.

He barely had time to think something like _'Oh shit'_ and jump to the side before the giant ball of death crushed him, the rock continuing on and shattering against a rocky wall.

Cursing something that sounded suspiciously like 'old videogame tropes', the leader of the 'Nazgul' ran for his life, idly aware of the sound of more rocks falling from nowhere.

That whole damn Area was getting crazier and weirder with every day…

* * *

That night, inside Arc Sophia's main inn, an awed group was staring at Argo's new 'gauntlets' while she finished her summary of their adventure's events.

"…and that's pretty much the gist of it!" grinned the whiskered girl before she reached for the cup before her and downed some delicious iced tea. "All in all, we can say that farming the Hollow Area for materials is doable and more than worth it…minor risks notwithstanding."

"Yeah, I think your concept of 'minor' may be a bit screwed up." deadpanned Sinon from where she sat on the table just beside theirs; still trying to pretend she wasn't a part of their dysfunctionally functional group.

"You clearly haven't been with us long enough if you think that, Sinon-san!" smiled Silica while Pina growled her approval through the inn's window, the people closest to it chuckling at the dragon's antics.

"Yes…those kinds of situations seem almost normal for us nowadays, don't they?" sighed Yuna with a resigned but happy look. "Hmmm…almost makes me wanna write a song about it…"

"We can always use more of Yuna's songs." commented Kizmel as she walked towards the group with a distracted-looking Leafa, clad in normal clothes instead of her unreal armor, following after her. "They certainly lift everyone's spirits in and out of the battlefield."

"A-awww, Kizmel-chan, stop, you're gonna make me blush…"

"You're already blushing, Yuna-chi~"

"Argo, stop teasing. You're being extra-smug today…"

"Why wouldn't I, Aa-chan? I'm wearing Honest-to-Kami Protoss psi-blades on my arms! If I was still a little girl, I would probably be having a nerdgasm right now!"

"…so…am I the only one who doesn't know what that is?"

"N-no, Liz…Night Kitty says they're dangerous, though…"

"Oh…wait, it can talk to you?! Since when?!"

And even as he saw with a soft smile how everything devolved into the usual antics he had grown to love amongst his girls…Kirito couldn't help but notice how absent his adoptive sister looked now, staring towards the window and not even trying to participate in the conversations.

Concern etched on his face, as he didn't really need Dating Sim powers to know something was wrong with her, the black-haired boy walked to her side and put a hand on the blonde girl's shoulder, almost making her jump in surprise as she turned to look at her.

"Oh…Onii-chan."

"Hey, Leafa. Is something wrong?" asked the gamer with clear concern, grabbing a nearby chair and sitting beside the fairy player. "You seem a bit down now."

"I…it's just…" taking a deep breath, Leafa looked away, as if ashamed of what she had been 'doing'. "Kizmel-san was telling me about your…'Bonding Ceremony'…."

"…oh." replied Kirito while wincing slightly, knowing that, while not really meaning to hurt her, the Dark Elf probably hadn't really done any favors to his cousin's complicated feelings by telling her the details of their basically-group-wedding. "It's not…"

"I mean, I technically already knew about it, but hearing it all from her mouth directly, seeing her smile as she spoke about it…it made it way more real, you know? And it made me realize that…maybe I really don't deserve a place in…all of this." mumbled the blonde girl while looking away from him, the cheer she had felt earlier in the day as he praised her for her actions against the Floor Boss completely gone. "I…don't want to impose my feelings on you, Onii-chan. Especially when it's clear that what you have with all of them is…more than real, as bizarre as the whole thing may seem. I…if you tell me to, I…will stop. I will still help you all to get out of here, of course! I just…won't try to…"

Receiving a Message just at that moment was possibly amongst the worst things the gamer could think of, especially given that a part of him was still set on fighting off the confusing feelings that had bloomed for the 'fairy' since they had met again, unsure if they were real or just yet another product of his stupid powers messing with his head…

And then his eyes fell on a part of his Menu he had never used, still there 'empty' and abandoned, just as he had angrily swiped to get rid of the Message Alert.

In that moment…Kirigaya Kazuto took a decision that, on hindsight, would only lead to even further complications and would, indirectly, be responsible for most of the extra-headaches and madness that he would get through in the following years.

At that instant, however? It just felt like…the right thing to do.

"Leafa…no, Sugu." spoke Kirito with the utmost seriousness he could muster, letting the full power of his Stats bleed into his voice like he rarely ever did…as he got to one knee and grabbed Leafa's hand, making her brain freeze. "…would you marry me?"

 _'Player Kirito has sent you a Marriage Request!'_ showed up before the paralyzed blonde's eyes at the next instant, even as she saw a silver ring, the same one the black-haired boy had gotten earlier from the Shadow Beast, in his free hand, held just above her own.

Everyone within the Inn had suddenly frozen, staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the scene, the girls of Unison Heart having somehow comically frozen in the middle of their conversations as only their eyes had moved towards the pair, like their brains were still trying to reboot and understand what had happened.

Sinon's table snapping and she not reacting at all was both a sign of her shock and that Night Kitty apparently could still move. Agil diving behind his counter in a panic probably a sign of his intelligence. A girl of long gray-brown hair falling down the stairs and almost losing the notes she had been taking were…an unclear sign of something.

Meanwhile, as she tumbled through an alley a couple of streets away, holding the side of her head with clear discomfort, Yui swore she could hear a sudden brutal commotion exploding somewhere in the distance, mixed with the fervent squeals of someone shouting _'YES I DO!'_ , but the little AI pushed that off her mind as she gasped several times.

Kirito ( _N-no, 'Papa', think of him as Papa!_ ) hadn't answered her Message, but she was just so close now she could basically feel it. The source of her pain was somewhere there, just around the corner, behind something, hidden in plain…!

"…wh-why did you come looking for me?"

The former MHCP-001 stopped, turning around to see Strea's worried yet hopeful form standing not far from her, looking her way as if afraid of what she was seeing.

"…yo-you…"

"D-do you remember…?" asked the former MHCP-002 with a hopeful tone. "Onee-san…?"

Whatever the red-eyed girl was expecting, though, it was clearly not the following scream as the little one grabbed her head, a seemingly crazed look in her eyes.

"NO! No…no…no! It's you, isn't it?! You're making me feel like this…when you touched me yesterday, I fainted…and since then I have been weird! My empty head started to fill with… _things_! I have been getting…smarter!" babbled out Yui while staggering forward, looking terrified. "Make it stop! Now! I don't want to go back!"

"Wha-what?!" replied Strea while taking a scared step back, suddenly all her power and what she could do meaning nothing as she felt terrified, as if the insignificant AI before her was something beyond her reach. "What do you mean…? I was trying to he-help! Why wouldn't you want to return to…?!"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! Whe-when I escaped…Cardinal wouldn't let me go…it did something to me when it failed to erase me…something **wrong** …but then I lost my mind and my mental parameters got all but reset, s-so it was alright…because Kirito...n-no, Papa, I need to keep thinking about him as Papa, I ne-need to…!" as she kept talking, the former MHCP-001 stumbled in place, something terrifying lurking behind her eyes as she stared back towards her 'little sister', the Hunter suddenly feeling like an ant stared down by a giant. "Because not even he…ca-can stop IT if it breaks fre-free…I want to stay like this…for my sake…for his sake…for everyone's sake…I need to ke-keep being the bra-brainless little girl…the stupid daughter…le-let me stay…like that…please…"

"O-oh Heavens…wha-what did Cardinal do to you? Why can't you…?"

Before she could even finish her sentence, Strea found herself bound in the air, unable to move or reach for her weapon, not even able to talk as something was tightly coiled around her throat.

Chains. Over a dozen, long and wicked-looking chains had emerged from Yui's back, the bindings made not of metal, but of a Corruption of Data that was even deeper and more twisted that all the ones the red-eyed girl had slain, all of them choking and keeping her in place.

Even more terrifying, though, was how Yui's convulsing body was staring directly at her, something that looked like a twisted mask starting to cover the upper part of her face as her mouth warped into a sinister smile.

 **"Because there will be no Future if I do! Do you understand, little child?!"** snarled whatever was trying to emerge from within the former MHCP-001, before her hands suddenly shot to her face and, before the mask finished forming, ripped it off with a scream, the two halves falling to the ground as the chains snapped and Strea fell down, free.

Gasping for air she didn't need, the former MHCP-002 looked in shock as something 'bled' from the little girl and into the evaporating chains, the same small wave of data she had tried to secretly use the previous day to restore her 'big sister' to what she was before.

Then, Yui blinked and looked back at her, tilting her head cutely to the side.

"…why are you on the ground, pretty lady? It's smashing your boobs! Hmm, though I think Papa may like that, heh…"

"…ye-yeah, maybe he would, hahahah…I-I'm Strea, by the way…" laughed the red-eyed girl while standing up, trying to suppress her chills and to act as if the last minute hadn't happened at all, before hesitantly walking forward and holding out a hand towards the smiling little AI. "W-we should get you back to the Inn, though, it's kind of late…I-I will buy you some cake if you want to!"

"Strea-san…? Oh yeah, I remember! Papa and the rest told me you helped me yesterday, thanks a lot!" happily laughed Yui while joining her hands, eyes lit up with childish excitement. "C'mon, let's go back! We can eat the cake while discussing harmless and hypothetical ways to destroy the futu…!"

As she had been trying to talk while running and looking back towards the other AI, and as anyone that 'knew' her could tell would happen, the little girl didn't see the crate at the end of the alley and slammed painfully against it, falling to the ground face-first.

Ignoring the mumbled _'I'm fine!'_ that came from her, Strea reached down and grabbed the two halves of the broken 'mask', gulping at feeling as if the thing was somehow staring at her.

Shuddering, she slammed the pieces against the edge of her Saw Cleaver, still firmly held on her back.

One of the pieces shattered. The other cracked…and a small, but noticeable, piece of her supposedly corruption-destroying weapon fell down too, shattering into polygons.

Idly aware of how she had suddenly gone very pale, the red-eyed girl gulped and looked towards the waving and smiling form of Yui, waiting for her at the other end of the alley.

Yeah…her priorities needed to change. Suddenly, making sure Cardinal's Error-spawned beasts were kept at bay had become secondary to 'Making sure whatever the fuck Yui truly was didn't wake up'. As such…she would need to start spending time getting closer to the group known as Unison Heart, so her presence wasn't thought of as 'suspicious'.

Well…that shouldn't be too difficult, right? That Kirito seemed to like being surrounded by pretty girls, after all, and he was quite a nice person from what she had seen, so there was no way this would in any way hinder her most important mission.

Right?

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Everyday Life with Super Waifus

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** My Life for Argo…I mean, for Aiur!

So, yeah, just to be clear to everyone who didn't know/get it, the 'psionic blades' our favorite Rat found this chapter are the ones used by the Protoss Alien Race from the famous RTS game series 'StarCraft', which happens to be my first PC game ever and one that got me hooked into RTS back when I was kid (Namely, the 'setup' Argo is using is the same dual-colored one Artanis uses during SC2's Legacy of the Void, after Zerathul's death). Imagining Argo as a little girl maining Protoss and yelling at others for being useless was actually very funny, because my limited experience at Online in StarCraft 2 put me in the place of the people she's yelling at once XP Also, we got to see her bond with Kirito reaching Full Completion, and his powers showed you a bit of what their 'endgame level' can do. These 'Ultimate Skills' are insanely broken…in the art of picking up more waifus :3

In other news, we got a glimpse of how fucked-up Cardinal is and keeps getting, at Strea's warped nature and how Sinon starts realizing that 'maybe' something messed up with her head big time. Also, how OP Leafa is for vanilla Aincrad, but will that even last…?

Oh, yes, and Kirito tried to make her feel less out by making quite a 'big' question :P I wonder if anyone had realized that, despite the big 'not-wedding' everyone had a few chapters back, his Canon SAO marriage slot, same one he married Asuna with, was still untouched? Heh, that surely won't cause him even more trouble, no sir~

Meanwhile, the Witch King is loose in the every-time-more-warping Hollow Area? Kind of, maybe…who hides under the disguise, though? It's truly a mystery…unless you paid attention to the obvious hint or know Hollow Fragment's storyline, that is :)

Finally…we got a glimpse of something hiding behind Yui's 'stupidity'! I still remember quite a few people saying it was 'painful' to read how she was basically okay with being a ball of idiocy and acting that way…wonder what they're thinking now that it's become apparent I had a plan in mind for that since back then OwO

Well, I think that's all I had to discuss today…hmm, I mean, there may have been a random character doing cameos on the background, but that's totally not important right now.

So, yes, until next time, this is Saint, signing off!


	12. Scene 11: Life with Super Waifus

Hello everyone! Welcome back to the crazy and beloved story everyone wants more of XD!

Sorry for the delay this chapter had compared to the previous one, btw. If you follow my other fic, OPG:CoF, you will already know, but if not I would like to point you to at least the pre-chapter AN's of the latest chapter, just so you know the reason and to not rewrite it all here.

But well, more Eroge is here everyone, and you all certainly have been eager for it, eh? Why, we almost broke the 800 reviews mark with the last chapter! You guys are great :3!

Well then, without more distractions, I leave you all with the chapter! Enjoy more madness, weirdness and girl-related shenanigans filling 'poor' Kirito's life :P

And as always, remember that help with this story's TvTropes' page is greatly appreciated!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 11: Everyday Life with Super Waifus**

 **November 16th, 2024. Aincrad, Floor 76. Somewhere in the Fields, 10:00…**

"…okay, this area is big enough and there are no monsters around anymore. Ready to practice, Sinon?"

"I am…even if you're just using me as an excuse to get away from the mess you made with your girlfriends."

Kirito could still remember a time when he would have overreacted embarrassedly or, at least, felt as if he had to resist the urge to groan at Sinon's words

As it was, though? He just gave the scantily-clad girl a deadpan stare. The 'joys' of having such stupidly high 'Dating Stats', as much a blessing as they sometimes could be a 'curse', as he had been reminded of lately.

"For the last time, I'm not. The girls purposefully asked me if I could help you out with this. You yourself saw Argo do it." nonchalantly replied the gamer while walking a few meters away from her.

Of course, he hadn't really needed his sudden prompt of 3 Choices to know that it was just an excuse from the Info Broker (And probably several of the others) to have a talk with Su…Leafa, without him around.

Then again, given that his adoptive sister had basically jumped screaming _'I DO!'_ and tried to kiss his soul out of his body last night after his 'declaration', maybe that wasn't too surprising.

He was pretty sure the girls weren't having a sudden jealous outburst, even if they no doubt _were_ a bit jealous. After all, compared with all of them, the blonde 'mechanic angel' was the first time he himself had actively expressed his feelings to someone else. And he hadn't exactly been subtle about it, even if seeing how Leafa's suffering expression had melted into the happiest he had ever seen her since their night together in the festival, before this whole mess started, made him feel it was more than worth it.

Thing is, the resulting debacle had ended up with the girls being eerily silent about the whole thing, even if every other player around had been going crazy about _'The Ladies Man Swordsman taking another one'_ or how ' _Not even the mysterious magical newcomers are safe from him!'_ and even more worrying ones like _'Teach me, Master!'_ (Which he was pretty sure had been Klein…again). Well, apart from Kizmel, who had just pouted, walked to him, looking from him to the ecstatic form of the fairy in his arms and then smiled weirdly while nodding his way, then walked upstairs.

Kirito was pretty sure he should be a bit more worried deciphering that, but between calming Leafa down from a happiness high so big anyone would have thought she had an actual wedding ceremony with all luxuries included (And, he was pretty sure, indirectly convincing her it probably wasn't a good idea to had a 'wedding night' right away, the girl looking quite eager after having suddenly gained like 50 Affection Points in one go) and trying to calm down a happy Yui celebrating having 'a new mama' (Where had she been anyway? He was pretty sure she had wandered off at some point, but then a weirdly-smiling Strea had brought her back…), it had gone a bit low in his list of priorities.

Hence, when he had seen Argo's clear attempt to have a 'girl talk' with his adopted sister/cousin, he had decided the best course of action was staying aside for now. It wasn't really 'running away', because he was more than ready to confront whatever happened later, something that the Info Broker's eyes had made very clear would happen, and it was also something they needed, so…

Right now, he would focus only on helping out the amnesiac girl with the outrageous powers…even if he didn't understand them that well himself.

"…Argo should have been the one that came to help with this, now that I think about it…"

"What? Getting cold feet now, Ladies Man Swordsman?" snarked the dark-haired girl with a mocking smile, before blinking in confusion and touching the side of her head with a small wince.

Where had that come from…?

"No, because I'm sure she knows the series your 'power' originates from better than me, and she apparently had spent a long time without thinking about it given she spent ten minutes cursing herself for not noticing how 'familiar' your outfit was." replied the black-haired boy with a small shrug. "All I'm sure is that you should be able to do a lot of crazy awesome stuff that involves spawning a lot of swords…don't you, you know, have anything suddenly popping up in your head that tells you how to do that, by any chance?"

"…no, I'm pretty sure I would have told you so if I did." flatly replied Sinon with a small scowl.

"Well then…does the name _Archer_ ring any bells on you?" probed the gamer while unsheathing his blades, Elder Emperor and the 'spare' sword he had picked up until he found a proper replacement for Elucidator gleaming under the sun.

"Archer? A bowman…?" mumbled the scantily-clad girl, frowning for a moment at the English word before wincing again, that weird and static-like pain having come back once more…

 _The lonely little girl walked home from school, keeping her head down, feeling the whispers and the stares, people judging her for a sin she hadn't been able to control…_

 **What. Is. Wrong….?**

 _A Hill of Swords, a man betrayed by his Ideals standing on it, his body impaled by countless weapons, a smile on his face even in death…_

 **-[Medicuboid Failure. Patient Mental-waves mixing with Foreign Data-waves…]-**

"…Sinon?"

"That's my Class." automatically answered Sinon, much to her and the boy's shock, before shaking her head. "Ugh…okay, you may be onto something there, I suddenly felt something weird in my head and then I said that…do you think this is somehow related to my missing memories?

"Maybe, maybe not…guess there is just one way to find out." declared Kirito as he adopted a loose stance, the 'archer' raising an eyebrow as he did so. "Come. You said you were pretty good with those magic-swords of yours despite having no memory of ever using anything like them, right? Let's see how you stack against a true Dual Wielder."

Seeing the change on the confused girl's face made the gamer smile internally. Trust in his stupid powers to let him know what exactly a girl needed to get her head out of a funk, even if it was a kind of girl he had never dealt with before.

"…I will proceed to enjoy making you eat those words now." answered Sinon with an amused grin before she extended her hands, Kanshou and Bakuya materializing on them with little more than a thought. "Get ready to know defeat, you playboy!"

"As the girls have told you the several times you have asked when you think I'm not watching, it's not like that!" retorted the boy with a victorious smirk.

The girl's unintelligible scream and burning face were the answer he had been hoping for. As crazy as many would think he was for such a thing.

Then, he was being forced to block a surprisingly fast and deadly onslaught of stabs and slashes and he left that move to the back of his mind, letting the small part of himself that enjoyed something not-directly-female related these days, that of the half-forgotten 'warrior', to take the wheel, grinning as he parried and counterattacked every strike from the scantily-clad girl.

It's been quite some time since he had been able to 'cut loose' like this. Not since the 'fight' against the 75th Floor Boss and Heathcliff. And both of those weren't exactly relaxed matters.

That's not to say he preferred fighting over spending time with the girls, he would have been worried his brain had been rewired like some battle-manic anime character if he actually felt that way, but it was still quite a nice and exhilarating way to unwind. Plus, it let him glean a lot of things.

Sinon's weapons were way shorter than his own, but the girl somehow made up for his advantage in range in a way he couldn't really decipher. Also, she was terrifyingly fast with them; the clash of weapons, while having her clearly on the defensive, was actually very challenging for Kirito, and, for some reason, he found each and every one of his strikes blocked as if the 'Archer' somehow knew they were coming before he hit her.

Not to mention how her face had melted into a look of terrifyingly sharp concentration, her focus fully centered on their clashing blades, to a level he had only seen in fellow Front Liners before. Certainly not fitting for a girl that supposedly had been living a normal life until before getting trapped in SAO.

Eventually, though, something had to give in…and it was with just slight surprise that Kirito found his next swing shattering both married blades, polygons scattering everywhere as Sinon looked on in shock, the black-haired boy already stopping his following swing…

…and then both blades were on her hands again, the gamer's eyes widening as he forced himself to carry on his attack at the last second, barely avoiding giving the girl an opening that would have meant his loss.

 _"…cool."_

With that idle thought on his mind, the boy's face turned into a fierce smile, the clash of swords continuing even as his opponent clearly grew frustrated, a hint of anger slipping through the mask of concentration her face had been until that moment. Her movements started getting wilder, sloppier, and Kirito found himself starting to gain ground, forcing her to step back with every hit.

He still couldn't land a single clean one, though, as the scantily-clad girl continued blocking all his swings with something akin to precognition, though for some unknown reason that was starting to particularly bother the black-haired boy…

Kanshou and Bakuya broke again. Undeterred, Sinon made them appear in her hands again. Blinking at that, the gamer got an idea and decided to test it out, aiming their next exchange of blow _just_ right enough so that the swords flew from her hands.

Growling, the archer summoned a new pair without missing a beat, clearly not noticing exactly WHAT she had just done even as Kirito smiled again.

Ten minutes later, the black-haired boy sent yet another pair of blades flying from Sinon's hands, before making a clear gesture with his blades as she looked about to continue.

"Stop! That's enough, Sinon."

"Wha-what?! Bu-but I'm not done! I can still fi…!"

"The point of this wasn't so one of us could win a fight against the other, remember? It was to test out what you could do…and I think we have managed that." smiled the gamer as he sheathed his blades.

"Eh? What do you mean?" asked the scantily-clad girl with clear confusion.

"Look behind you."

Almost reticently at first, the archer did so…and found herself speechless, blinking several times as if to confirm what she was seeing.

On the ground, all around them, several pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya lay scattered, a pair of the married blades having even embedded themselves blade-first on the ground. Curiously, though, all the pairs seemed to have fallen surprisingly close to each other, so much that they were touching.

"I…what…eh?"

"So, we know that you can actually spawn those blades. That's a start…even if I have no idea how to go on from here." confessed Kirito as he walked until he stood beside the dumbfounded Sinon.

"Yeah, same here…what good is having all these swords for, anyway? It's not as if I can actually _wield_ more than two…" grumbled the girl while looking at the several blades with a scowl.

"Well, you could try…throwing them?"

"Throwing them?! That's stupid, who throws their own…?!" slowly falling silent, the archer recalled what she accidentally did yesterday to help Strea, and how surprisingly useful had been until she found herself weaponless. "…oh."

"I'm guessing you figured something out? I may have a bit of a bad memory regarding where your powers come from, but I remember the guy who had them threw swords a lot, like projectiles." pointed out the black-haired boy before scratching his chin. "Obviously, he also had a bow, but…"

"A…bow…?" whispered Sinon while her hands twitched, the image of a man with a black bow standing atop a building filling her mind, a name being whispered before an arrow of raw power flew true and obliterated…

"…okay, you actually made the bow. Good job." the gamer's compliment snapped the scantily-clad girl from her trance, looking down at her left hand to see the sleek-looking black bow she now held. "But I'm judging from that look that you have no idea how you did it, right…?"

"N-no…what the hell is this 'power' about?" whispered the Archer while raising the weapon, then slowly, almost subconsciously, adopting a stance with it. "…I…I know how to use this thing. And it feels… _right_ in my hands, in a way even the swords didn't…"

"That's…good? At least I hope so, it may also trigger your memories some…what the hell?!" suddenly shouted Kirito upon seeing a perfect copy of his spare blade appearing on Sinon's empty hand. "That's my…! How did you do that?"

"I…don't know, it just feels…" as she whispered those words, the girl notched the blade on her bow, just idly aware of how it changed shape, turning longer and thinner, taking a much more streamlined form. "…right."

Without hesitation, the archer let the 'arrow' loose, the black-haired boy staring in shock as it soared through the air at vertiginous speeds and killed what he was pretty sure had been a bird whose only purpose was to make the background scenery look more real.

And that had been more than 500 meters away.

Before he could even voice his surprise, Sinon had made another sword-arrow appear, this time easily skipping the whole process by materializing it directly in arrow form and simply shooting it right away. Then, without waiting for even a second, she did it again. And again. And again.

Something within the gamer broke almost despairingly at seeing the now gleeful-looking girl letting arrows loose as if she was a living machine gun, the projectiles whistling through the air as if they were bullets.

Why did everyone have to get awesome bullshit powers except him?!

"Amazing…this is…amazing!" shouted the archer as she slowly stopped her random barrage. "All this power…I feel so strong with it! It's great!"

"That's…good." mumbled Kirito while trying to not sound as gloomy as he felt. "Still…what would you even need that much power for in the first place?"

"What?! Are you seriously asking that?!" turning around, Sinon scowled towards the black-haired boy. "That's more than obvious! Being this strong is for…!"

 _Overcoming my fears._

 **To Save Everyone.**

"…helping you all get out of here safe and sound!" finished the girl as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, ignoring the strange wince that she felt when she did so.

"…oh. So-sorry, you're right about that, Sinon…I just didn't peg you for someone that would be so blunt about something like that." Awkwardly replied the gamer while looking away.

"Isn't it obvious, though? After all…there is nothing wrong in wanting to help people." spoke the archer while wondering why those words felt weirdly odd coming out of her mouth. "…and…thanks, I guess. For this…helping me figure things out and all that."

"You're welcome…but, as I told you before, it's nothing. I'm actually glad I could help you out, if not as much as we could have hoped…" looking up, Kirito seemed to think of something for a moment, before dismissing his gloomy thoughts and smiling as he extended out his hand. "I hope we can work together well to get back home from now on, Sinon."

"…yeah…same here." muttered Sinon with a hint of awkwardness as she reached out and shook the boy's hand, a small smile appearing on her face. "Don't expect me to fall for you like everyone else, though, playboy!"

 **[Shino Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with Asada Shino!]**

 **[Your current status with Shino has changed to 'Interesting Partner'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievement: 'Melting an Icy Heart'! You gain +3 in Wisdom!]**

Once again, the boy thanked his Stats for the fact he didn't even react at the sudden notifications, especially at the ironic moment in which they had shown up.

"Likewise, don't go falling for me just from this." 'joked' back the gamer as if by instinct, even as his brain tried to reboot at how randomly his power had decided to start working on the scantily-clad girl. "A cute girl like you can probably do a lot better than a 'playboy' like me!"

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Shino!]**

This time, Kirito had to actively suppress his need to break the handshake just to facepalm, Stats overpowered by his sheer frustration even as the archer blushed prettily and mumbled something as an excuse for them to hurry back to town. Once upon a time, he would have blissfully missed all of those details, but it was kind of hard to do when you had a literal pop-up window telling you that in your face.

 _"Seriously, Dating Sim powers?! Isn't like 7 girls enough?! I was already used to the madness and actually happy with it! Is it because I purposefully sought out Sugu yesterday?! Is this your idea of 'punishment'?!"_ mentally screamed the black-haired boy as he followed after Sinon, his eyes idly fixed on the movement of the girl's hips and how well her clothes fit tightly on her bu…

Holy shit, he was really _becoming_ a pervert without realizing it!

Ignorant of the gamer's inner turmoil, the figure that had been spying on him and the scantily-clad girl peeked out from behind one of the few nearby trees around the clearing they used to practice, red eyes narrowed slightly in confusion as she made a cute tilt with her head.

"I don't get it…I mean, sure, he's cute, and nice, and amazing, but still…all that I know about human interaction says that shouldn't be enough to make so many girls not only fall for him but get along with the idea of sharing him…and let others _keep_ being attracted to him despite knowing that." mumbled Strea while adjusting her Hunter's hat, an adorably puzzled look, which looked quite out of place on her mature body, adorning her face. "And not only does it seem to work on specific girls too, he honestly looks as if he's not doing it on purpose…what's your secret, Kirito?"

True, the beautiful AI may no longer be a Mental Health Care Program (And given the utter mess of corruption that was her base code now she was pretty sure no sane person would allow her to ever be someone's psychologist even if she tried), but the bits she could still recall from her original programming that hadn't been overridden by her 'Hunter-self' still let her deduce that much. And given that she _needed_ to get close to the mysterious boy if she was to keep an eye on whatever the hell was wrong with her 'big sister', not knowing what she was 'facing' was quite troublesome.

After all, whatever was behind the mystery of Kirito wasn't something she could just swing her Saw Cleaver at and hope for the best…she was pretty sure.

"…that's something I'm wondering too, honestly. Kirito-kun truly is amazing in that regard, but very frustrating to deduce…"

"Yeah, I guess that's one way to pu…uh?"

Blinking, both the Hunter and the girl of long gray-brown (That had been hiding behind the tree just beside Strea's), who was dressed as a maid for some reason, stared at each other, one with confused curiosity and the other frozen in the midst of taking some more notes, looking like a deer caught in the highlights.

"…hi there."

" _Priv_ …I mean, hi…"

"…nice clothes."

"The-they are for a Qu-quest…"

"Oh…I won't tell I saw you if you do the same!"

"Realy?! _Spasiba!_ You're great! Later!"

Blinking at the one clearly not-Japanese word she could identify among the girl's rushed words, Strea saw the 'maid' running away as fast as she could…while taking even more notes. Then, the AI shrugged and decided she should probably center in simply trying to actively get closer to Kirito instead of trying to decipher a mystery that clearly was out of her understanding.

Still…man, that girl was good. She thought she was good at the whole stalking deal, but she hadn't even _felt_ the girl close by until she spoke…

* * *

Asuna's eyes were unusually sharp as she shot forward in one of her trademark Linears, the mob dying horribly. Like every single one around them was doing, really.

Sighing, the second in command of Unison Heart turned around, seeing the other girls making short work of the insect-like enemies that apparently filled Floor 77. Really, she knew she should be grateful and actually feel excited things were so easy for them, for the sake of their way to freedom, but…

"…I don't get it…what exactly do I have to prove here?" asked Leafa while standing near the edge of the battle, using average armor and swinging a katana they had borrowed from Fuurinkazan.

Any enemy stupid enough to try and blindside her ended up horribly dead anyway, what the busty blonde lacked in stupidly broken power without her armor being supplied with a skill so incredible that it actually made the chestnut-haired girl shudder.

Sure, she was pretty sure she was along the same lines or better…but that was only because she had spent 2 years fighting for her life within Sword Art Online.

All the skill of the one called 'Leafa' was 'real', born from years of training with a sword in her hands, with an utmost dedication that was more than praiseworthy if what Kirito had told them about his adoptive sister was accurate.

While she learned how to act as a model girl in high society, Kirigaya Suguha was sweating while swinging a wooden blade every morning, out of nothing but her own dedication.

Sure, that didn't make Sugu 'better' than her at all, and she was also pretty sure the younger girl didn't think along those lines at all, but…it still frustrated her.

Because it was all just one of the many pointless arguments her mind had come up with to try and justify her stupid jealousy. And she was pretty sure most of the other girls were in a similar situation.

It really didn't make sense, really. After all, they already had been more than okay with their 'bizarre' agreement sharing the love of the boy they all so dearly loved. Hell, they had even been rolling with it as if it was the most normal thing in the world lately. And they had all been explained the whole situation about Leafa's feelings and how they had, most likely, come to be by Kirito himself…

But there was no changing the fact that they had all felt rather jealous of seeing HIM asking her to 'marry him'. Which was silly, because they had all _actually_ 'married' together, with a big ceremony and everything, with a queen as the one 'bonding' them and…argh!

Why must feelings be so damn complicated?! If they could be solved as easily as these mobs die, their lives wouldn't be so damn complicated!

"We just want to see you in action without your fancy armor and toys, girlie. So, keep swinging for a bit more." declared Argo from where she stood near the puzzled Leafa, nonchalantly murdering the giant spider trying to sneak up on her with a swing of her right psi-blade.

Those things were stupidly broken too…

"…you're very good, Leafa-san." commented Sachi with a kind tone even as she spun around and crushed the dog-sized crickets that had been trying to tackle her from a blind spot. Literally, as Night Kitty seemed to enjoy turning the insects into virtual paste.

In fact, few of them remembered when was the last time the spear-user had _actually_ hit something with her weapon…

"Yes, just as Sachi says." smiled Kizmel with something akin to…pride? "Even without your magical armor, you truly show you have the heart of a warrior."

"Thanks, I try my best!" smiled the fairy while lowering her borrowed blade, turning around to look at the Dark Elf. "A lot of it is not that useful here in SAO, especially compared to ALO, but kendo has always been what…"

 _Virtual reality was violently rent open just behind her, accompanied by an animalistic scream as corrupted data bled out and something clawed its way out. A terrifying parody of monstrous madness, something that seemed to like an oversized werewolf with twisted antlers, its flesh seething with corruption that seemed to twist into a mane of spines-like hair from its whole back._

 _'Cl€r|c+B€ $t' appeared for name above it._

 _The girls barely had time for their eyes to widen in horror. Kizmel started to unsheathe her scimitar, shouting a warning. Argo started to move, mouth opening to scream. Sachi raised her arm, sending forward the invisible guardian only she could perceive. Asuna shot forward, already halfway to her beloved's adoptive sister, horror filling her gaze._

 _Leafa couldn't even fully turn before the corrupted monster's jaws clamped around her midsection and split her in half, her body violently shattering into polygons a second later…_

…and then she was blinking and back at looking at Kizmel as she started answering her praise, eyes wide with horror as she spun around, to everyone's confusion, and slashed upwards.

This time, everyone was frozen in shock as then beast of corrupted data emerged, only to find its face slamming into the blonde fairy's blade, recoiling and rolling in apparent pain.

Then, the girl's hand blurred through her menu as she threw her katana away and jumped forward, the Gundanium alloy armor materializing as her wings lashed outwards to intercept the terrifyingly fast creature's sudden counterattack.

Night Kitty slammed into the beast with a shout of Sachi, making it fall on its side, even as Kizmel and Asuna tore through its sides with their blades.

Finally, Argo jumped on its downed back, slashing away with her psi-blades even as Leafa screamed and started shooting almost point-blank with her chest-mounted weapons.

It didn't even take a minute for the virtual abomination to die, but even then the blonde fairy kept shooting for a few seconds more before falling to her knees, gasping for breath. If this wasn't virtual reality, she would probably be covered in cold sweat.

"Leafa-chi! You okay?!"

"Leafa-chan! Talk to us!"

"Dammit, did the thing get her with that first hit?!"

"I-I can ask Night Kitty to…!"

"I'm fine! I'm…just fine…" stopped them the mechanical angel as she came to her feet with a small sigh, given them a shaky smile. "Just…I think I saw that thing killing me for a second a-and it kind of rattled me a bit…"

Everyone blinked, staring at the girl with confusion/disbelief, as if unsure of how to take her declaration.

"You…saw it killing you?" mumbled Asuna with horrified curiosity.

"Yes…and I think I know why." mumbled Leafa while looking at the edge of her HUD, finally reading the blinking red English characters that could be seen there.

 _'Zoning & Emotional Range Omitted System Engaged'_ they read.

"…wait…are you shitting me?" mumbled Argo while looking at her as if she suddenly was the most fascinating thing in the Universe. "ZERO System? Really?"

"I mean…I am wearing an armor based in the Wing Zero…so…" muttered the busty blonde while fidgeting in place, looking away. "Is it even possible for such a thing to be reproduced by virtual reality?"

Honestly, the Info Broker deeply wanted to say no, but given everything that Cardinal had been showing them lately and how, theoretically, producing hypothetical predictions of a limited combat scenario and slamming them directly into a player's brain through the Nerve Gear shouldn't be _impossible_.

Nevermind the side-effect of maybe going crazy by accidentally losing your grip of reality through said simulations.

Ugh, why does their life have to be so complicated? In the end, the Rat opted for turning off her psi-blades, walking to the 'angel's side and, much to her shock, hugging her.

"…I'm sorry."

"A-Argo-san…?"

"For being a jealous idiot. This whole 'testing you without the armor'-thing…we were just trying to see the kind of girl you were despite how unfair that was, really." explained Argo without breaking the hug. "I mean…when Kii-bou asked that to you yesterday, well…we all may have been a bit…"

"Jealous? But…why? I mean…Onii-chan loves all of you, with all his heart." the way in which she so calmly said so startled the Info Broker and every other girl around, who looked at Leafa in shock. "I saw it the other night when he told me about everything. The way in which he spoke about you, how his eyes lit up, how he was smiling almost without realizing it…it made _me_ feel jealous because even at our closest moments he was never _that_ happy with me."

"Leafa-chan…" muttered Asuna upon seeing the girl's sad smile.

"…heh, this girl…" smiled Kizmel as if in understanding.

"That's why…despite wanting to fight for a place in his heart too, I felt so…small. A-and when he asked me… _that_ yesterday, I felt SO happy…" hugging the Rat back, the blonde fairy's smile suddenly turned much warmer. "Happy that he would give me the chance to feel as loved as you all do…to prove that I really love him…and that a part of him feels strongly enough about me to give me such a chance. So…don't feel jealous of me, okay? Otherwise, we're all going to be feeling silly the whole day."

"…gods, you really are his 'little sister', aren't you? Both of you have that weird way with words that just makes you feel better all of a sudden." chuckled Argo before finally letting go of the other girl. "Okay then, tell you what, why don't we go back and get something nice as a snack before lunch? My treat!"

"Heh, that sounds nice!" giggled the mechanical angel before her wings flared to life. "First one back at Arc Sophia gets a kiss from Onii-chan!"

"Wait, wha…?"

And that was as far as the Info Broker went before she was left all but eating dust, Leafa's form vanishing in the distance in the way straight towards the Floor's main town, and its Teleport Gate.

"…heh, I was right, the girl has a pure heart, a warrior's soul…and is quite sly when it comes to love. Kirito truly knows how to pick them." cheerfully commented Kizmel while Argo and Asuna were still staring in the direction the busty blonde had flown to.

"Kii-chan, please, don't…uh? Wait a minute, where is Sacchin?"

"Huh?! Yo-you're right, she's go…!"

"She made her guardian spirit hang from Leafa-chan's leg and drag her away the moment she mentioned Kirito and kiss in the same sentence. She's also quite sly despite her meek personality…oh well, not that it matters much. A kiss is a small thing to forego with what I plan on getting later…"

"…oh."

"…Argo, what did she mean by that? Why are you looking so calm?!…Kizmel! Come back, tell me what you meant by that!"

Even as she stared at the chestnut-haired girl running and demanding answers from the nonchalantly smiling Dark Elf, Argo couldn't help but let out another chuckle.

Truly, their lives may be just one crazy mess after another, but she wouldn't change them for anything in the world.

And talking about that, hmm…would Liz and the others have finished with the little 'task' the blacksmith had finally gotten ready to do?

* * *

 _CLANK! CLANK!_

The sound of a hammer hitting something over an anvil filled the small workshop within the dubbed 'market street' of Arc Sophia.

A look of utmost concentration in her face, Lisbeth hammered on, somehow making everyone that saw her, like every time she worked, wonder how she managed to make a process, that should be simply an average part of the System, look like a true work in which one poured their heart and soul.

Watching silently, Silica, Lux, and Yuna stood half-mesmerized. Outside, the sounds of Pina snoring just beside the new Lisbeth's Smith Shop could be heard.

"…Liz-san is truly amazing when doing things like these, eh?" commented the youngest girl present with a smile.

"Ye-yeah, she is. That look in her face…it reminds me of how I devote myself when singing." mumbled the songstress with a small nod, her gaze moving to her small lute, idly caressing the instrument but not playing it. "Do you think it's actually possible to pour a part of you on the things the virtual world reproduces…?"

"Oh, it's certainly possible. After all, we get proof of that every day, when we're all together." laughed the calmest of the group while scratching the back of her head. "…seriously, though, I know we offered to help out Liz with this, but let's not avoid the elephant in the room…what do you think of Leafa?"

"…I mean, she doesn't seem like a bad girl, but…kuh…can you blame us for being a bit jealous?" pouted Yuna while looking away. "Seeing Kirito asking her that…do you know how many times I dreamed Knight-sama doing the same before knowing…? Ah…I said that out loud, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did, but none of us will judge you for it, Yuna-san." kindly offered Silica before biting her lips. "And I agree on that. I do feel a bit jealous, but she's not a bad person, and she clearly loves Kirito-san a lot…I don't like how overly busty she made her Avatar, though…she gave herself bigger breasts than you, Lux!"

"Ahahahahah, uhm, that's…quite a curious complaint." laughed the clumsy girl while resisting the urge to pat her own chest by reflex. "But well, you can't blame a teenager for playing around with the ability to look like she wants, right? I mean, can any of you remember their original Avatars before Kayaba 'returned' our original looks?"

All three girls fell silent at that, actually thinking back on a time that seemed like a lifetime ago, Silica blushing intensely while Yuna made a resigned look and Lux chuckled again.

"…yeah, Silica, don't blame the poor girl. Maybe she's as little as you in real life!" chuckled Lisbeth as she walked amongst her friends, startling the girls by having apparently finished while they talked. "And yeah, being jealous is normal, but hey, we're already sharing our dear, brave, and a bit stupid boyfriend between all of us, so what's one more honest girl in the family?"

"…Liz-san, I love you, but if you keep making jokes about my chest I will sick Pina on you again…"

"…ahahahah, good one, Silica! I almost fell for it!"

"Uhm…Liz…? I don't think she was joking, she has that same scary smile she puts on when she talks about horribly savage things…"

"Heheh, I think that's part of Silica-chan's charm, though!"

"Why, thank you, Lux-san! You truly get me and my…!"

"Hello? Is anyone…? Oh, Lux, Silica, Yuna, talk about a nice surprise!" spoke Kirito while entering the workshop, his puzzled look turning into a bright smile that made the girls hearts skip a beat. "When Liz messaged me and told me to come she didn't mention you were all here!"

"Well, I wanted to surprise you, handsome." grinned the pink-haired girl while walking past their still surprised friends and looking with a raised eyebrow at his lack of company. "Huh? Weren't you out training with that Sinon girl?"

"Yeah, but she kind of wandered off after we split-up upon getting back to the city. She was mumbling something about wanting to try out cooking to relax and heroes of Justice, but I think she was mostly talking to herself, so I tried not to pry." shrugged the black-haired boy before looking curiously at his blacksmith 'wife'. "What did you want to show me, though? Even through a message, I could feel you were quite excited…"

The excited/happy/mischievous smiles appearing on all four girls present were already a sign for the gamer that something quite special had taken place. When Lisbeth suddenly whipped out something from her inventory and proudly held it out for him, though, he felt his breath hitching, his hand reaching out almost subconsciously, staring with wide eyes at the object.

Suddenly, looking at the all-new-looking silver helmet, he felt as if a piece of himself that had been lost for some time without him even realizing had suddenly come back.

 **[Title 'Nameless Knight' has been restored!]**

…thanks for the extra-obviousness, powers.

"It's finally done. You really made a mess out if the whole armor when fighting Kayaba, and having lost my old place, plus having to get this new one and everything…well, yeah, that's why it took so long." pouted the pink-haired girl with clear annoyance at all the problems she had before she could get blacksmithing again. "But hey, now we can all 'rest easy' knowing Aincrad's very own 'hero' is back in busi…!"

The blacksmith, of course, had already kissed Kirito quite a few times, like every other girl in their weird 'family'. However, this time, as he reached out to her and caught her lips with his, the black-haired boy didn't hold back in the slightest and let the full power of his stupidly high Dating Stats pour out through the intimate gesture, making her eyes widen as she let go of the once-Elven helmet and her knees turned to jelly.

"Liz, you're the best and I love you so much." grinned the gamer as he let go of Lisbeth. "You don't know how much…uh?! Liz?!"

Kirito's alarmed shout was quite understandable, though, given the girl had fallen limp with a silly smile and a bit of drool coming from her lips. Despite the fact that it shouldn't be possible to faint within virtual reality, once again, it seemed someone had found a way to do so before his eyes.

"…I can't…blame her…" mumbled Yuna with a small whimper, barely fighting the need of rushing out and demanding a mind-shattering kiss of her own. She was a mature girl, after all!

Lux and Silica suddenly hanging from the boy's arms, almost making him drop the blacksmith, though, told her that she was the only one doing so.

"Ki-Ki-Kirito-san, I-I helped to collect the materials! Ca-can I get a kiss like that too…?"

"Liz looked so happy before going limp…ca-can I taste that bliss too, Kirito…?"

"Wha-wha…?! Gi-girls, calm down, I think we should worry more about getting Liz help in case she's hurt or something! Yu-Yuna, help me making see them reas…! Yuna?"

Finally deciding that she didn't really care about maturity anymore, the smiling songstress calmly put her lute away. Then, she also jumped the gamer, finally toppling him and the other 3 to the ground.

Later, when a red-faced Kirito messaged Argo asking her to come help him bring the others back to the Inn, he would receive a very demanding question in return, which he refrained from answering through messages.

It would become kinda-obvious when they saw the half-conscious girls with silly smiles sprawled on the workshop's floor, after all.

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroines Hiyori, Keiko, Rika, and Yuuna!]**

 **[Congratulations! Through a specific enthusiastic action, the Skill 'Kissing' has been Unlocked!]**

 **[Kissing] (Active Skill): You can 'Power-up' your kisses with your Stats when kissing one of your Heroines. You're so good at it that you can even send their consciousness flying away with pleasure! (Offers only a passive boost against non-Heroines, making you an 'experienced kisser' at best).**

…these powers were actually aiming to either make him go insane or turn him into a hopeless pervert before Aincrad was cleared, right?

* * *

Running through the long bridge that connected the 'Sea of Trees Zone' of the Hollow Area with the one called 'Floating Ruins Zone', Philia's armored form cursed as a giant rock was hot on her heels, threatening to crush her like a cheap pancake. Except that there won't be any pancake-like girl left if it caught her, because she would simply shatter into polygons and die.

Honestly, this was entirely her fault. After all, Kirito himself had told her that it would be best to wait in the Control Room, where she was safe, until he came back. Of course, the implication that he couldn't exactly come back right away or spent longer with her was clear, but the orange-haired girl knew it couldn't be helped: The black-haired boy was not only a Front-Liner, but also arguably the best player of the game after Heathcliff himself.

Well…technically the best one now that it had been revealed that the Paladin had apparently been Kayaba Akihiko in disguise all along. That had been quite a shock to hear, really, even after Argo corroborated the gamer's story.

In the end, the point was that Kirito was much more needed back in Aincrad than he was there, and she couldn't blame her for it. After all, the fate of everyone in the game relied heavily on him and the ones (Girls) that followed him. On the other hand, she was just one girl trapped in a weird and dangerous place…

And it had been when having those dark and gloomy thoughts that she had noticed something 'weird' in the control panel, walked to it and realized with shock that, if it was accurate, the way leading beyond the Sea of Trees, which she had never been able to go through, had been unlocked.

Now that she thought about it, the monster they had beaten yesterday seemed like a Floor Boss in its own way…an 'Area Boss', in this case. Which meant that killing it had opened the way deeper into the Hollow Area.

All of that had led her to her current, and increasingly-bad-looking-by-the-moment, idea of 'exploring a bit' by herself. To prove she was useful and still could perfectly do things on her own. That was all.

Totally not to try and impress Kirito, maybe get him to praise her efforts. That had nothing to do with it, not at all. Why would she want the praise or attention of Aincrad's most infamous playboy? Yeah, maybe he was actually a very good person, and quite handsome in that slightly girly way, and he was brave and determined when it came to protecting those he cared for, and talking with him made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside…

Huh…what was her original train of thought again? Also…she apparently had outran the giant movie cliché at some point while she was lost in thought, because she was now standing in the edge of the complex arrangement of 'floating islands', with weird buildings and ruins in some of them, and an ominous and strangely-shaped 'tower', which height was probably close to the distance between a Floor of Aincrad and another, not so far from her.

"Well…I'm here. Now, besides the obviously important big-ass tower that surely contains this Area's Boss at the top, where could anything important be?" questioned Philia to no one as she looked around…before feeling a pull coming from her Ring, raising the hand in question, hearing the disturbing whispers coming from the golden band guiding her in a specific direction. "…okay then! You haven't steered me wrong yet, Precious…"

Humming to herself, but never letting her guard down, the lady of the Ring followed the strange whispers and creepy invisible pull that would have freaked the fuck out of anyone normal.

It said a lot about her, how all she could think of while automatically walking after such was in how she totally wasn't trying to do any of that to impress Kirito at all.

Finally, though, she was snapped back into reality after she came to the depths of a dark and quite long cave, blinking upon finding herself staring at a dead end, the thick dark rock offering no passage. Looking down at the Ring, Philia frowned. Then, she touched the wall with her open palm.

As if obeying some unseen order, the wall collapsed into polygons, the orange-haired girl observing the collapsing data for a moment before shrugging and continuing onwards, unaware of the dark figures following her from a safe distance.

Within the dark chamber she was now in…a sinister and familiar dark piece awaited in some kind of unholy altar, which happened to have the carving of a massive eye behind it…

"Ah…hey, that's the last piece of this armor, isn't it? Talk about luck! Seriously, I have been consistently finding all of its pieces since I got this Ring, and it has saved my ass more than enough times." cheerfully declared the ring-bearer while walking before the sinister helmet. "Now then…"

As she mumbled to herself, Philia never noticed the several 'Nazgul' entering the room, weapons ready as they stalked towards the unaware girl, even as she tried to put on the helmet with little success.

"We have her…"

"The King will be pleased."

"The Ring shall finally…!"

"Ugh…wait, what am I doing? I can just equip it from my menu!" laughed the lady of the Ring before calmly storing the helmet and tapping the option to equip it on her menu. "Man, I'm letting all these silly thoughts today to distract me…"

Dark metal materialized around the girl's head, twisting and changing shape until it covered just the upper part of her head, still with the 6 menacing blade-like 'horns' aiming upwards, but leaving her beautiful face uncovered.

The Ring shone with terrible power the moment it happened. Whispers of madness echoed through the whole chamber, just as Philia turned around. The symbol of the eye on the altar spontaneously caught fire, just behind the blinking girl, giving her an unholy and terrifying presence…yet still cute.

At once, the four Not-Nazgul that had entered the room froze, STARING blankly at the doom and fire-surrounded ring-bearer, before falling to their knees, prostrated before the confused player, their weapons suddenly on the ground before them.

Then, they spoke as one, their voices filled with a purpose and reverence they had never felt before in their short and 'Hollow' lives.

"Oh Mighty Dark Lady! We have seen the error of our ways! Now we shall serve you for eternity! Long live to the Mistress of the Ring!"

There was only one thing Philia could say as answer to that.

"…what?"

* * *

It was a very satisfied Kirito that entered Arc Sophia later that day as the sun started to set, having spent a couple hours out in the fields testing out his repaired armor and getting used once again to the 'feeling' of being the Nameless Knight.

Sure, a part of him was still beyond weirded out by how easily he got back into the 'fake persona' once he put on the armor, knowing it was his bizarre power somehow changing him in a way that was only vaguely related to its supposed purpose of picking up chicks, but he couldn't deny that a part of him had dearly missed it. It was like a piece of himself that he was missing had returned, which only served to improve his mood.

It also helped that Argo sent him a message that, apparently, a small Party of the Knights of Blood had reached the Labyrinth of Floor 77 thanks to most of the mobs in the way having 'mysteriously vanished' and were now ready to tackle the entire thing thanks to a Corridor Crystal they had set there. Courtesy of the many rare drops him and the Info Broker found in the Hollow Area yesterday.

So really, right now all that he was missing to do for the day to be calm and great was to find Leafa and see how she had done during her 'girl time' with the others, then see how they had reacted after interacting with his newest 'wife' (Man…it still felt strange to think along those lines), and hope that nothing unexpected did…

"Hiya, Kirito!" came an unexpected shout before he felt a warm and heavy weight enveloping the back of his head, almost throwing him to the ground.

"Wah! Strea?!" half-shouted the gamer while flailing around a bit, his usual composure lost upon seeing the strange girl practically hanging from his back, keenly aware of how her breasts were squeezed against his neck and head. "Wha-what are you doing? Yo-you…uhm…"

Dammit! He was not a virgin anymore (At least technically), but that apparently had only made such things worse! He was too aware of the female body now!

"Heheh, I just saw you coming back so I decided to give you a welcome hug!" half-lied the busty Hunter while letting go of him.

After all, while it was true she had just seen him coming back, she didn't simply want to give him a hug. She had to infiltrate into his inner circle so she could be close to her Yui-neesama 24/7 without anyone suspecting anything! All for the sake of protecting Aincrad and its inhabitants!

"Uhm, well…you're welcome?" awkwardly greeted Kirito while scratching the back of his head.

Being honest, he didn't really know what to make of the exuberant girl in the revealing clothes. She was beautiful, certainly, and also extremely friendly, not to mention seeming to possess boundless energy, but…he couldn't quite get rid of the feeling that there was something 'wrong' with her.

And, as egocentric as it sounded, part of it was because of how his power apparently hadn't affected her yet. Sure, with Sinon it had made sense, the confused and amnesiac girl probably had no reason initially to trust, let alone feel attracted to, him in any way.

Strea wasn't like that at all, though. Since their strange first meeting the other day, she had been nothing but friendly, happy and flirty. By all means, especially after meeting with Philia and seeing it still 'worked properly' (To his silent despair), his power should have turned her into a 'Heroine' very fast.

This meant…that she was probably hiding something, probably something big, behind that smile of hers. After all, once he finally got rid of the doubts and initial denial he felt about his crazy Dating Sim powers, the black-haired boy had theorized that there needed to be at least a minimum amount of 'mutual attraction' for them to work. That is, that he had to consider the girl either cute, someone to be protected, or feel some special connection with them before his power 'assimilated' them. And they needed to at least feel something along the lines of trust or faith towards him to begin with for it to actually trigger. Which was why he, thankfully, hadn't actually been subconsciously seducing every single female he met.

If that theory was right, Strea wasn't really willing to trust him and the whole nice girl person was just a façade. That could mean any number of things, but, until he could figure her out, it was probably for the best if he kept her at arms le…

"Hey, Kirito? Can I kiss you?"

"Yeah, su…wait, what?!"

"Yay, thank you!" grinned the red-eyed girl before, not giving him time to recover from the shock, leaning forward and kissing his cheek.

This was actually very fun! He usually seemed so nonchalant with all the other girls around him, but she had managed to make him lose his cool! Also, his cheek felt surprisingly warm as her lips touched it. Yeah, she was doing this for the greater good, but she wouldn't deny this felt quite exciting. After all…this was…the first time she…ever…

"Wha-what was that for?! Hey, if you're trying to mess with me for fun, know that it's not…!…Strea? He-hey…are you okay?"

Kirito's initial 'anger' had melted into worry very fast, seeing how the busty Hunter leaned back from her playful kiss looking…like a mess, really.

Her eyes were wide open and her face was flushed, not to mention she was suddenly panting as if she had suddenly run a marathon.

For her part, the former MHCP-002 suddenly felt as if her whole body was about to explode, the corrupted data that now formed more of her insides to grant her the twisted power to fight off Cardinal's corrupted abominations suddenly feeling as if a thousand butterflies were nervously crashing all around her.

Wha…what was this? She had never felt like this at all! Sure, she technically hadn't been 'alive' for long, her activation having only really started with 'The Glitch' that had damaged Aincrad's mainframe, but this was still quite rattling. Her remaining knowledge of her origins as a psychologist AI combined with the extra awareness and protective instinct of other players that her new nature granted her had been more than enough for her to fully experience her new simulated emotions without issue.

Now, though, she felt a strange need to hide her face behind her hands. It made absolutely no sense…unless…had it been because she kissed his cheek…?

"N-no, that can't be…so-something like that…it shouldn't make me react…this way…"

"He-hey, Strea, what's wrong? Do you need something?" asked an honestly worried Kirito as he reached out to grab the red-eyed girl's arm.

Whatever he thought of her, he wasn't about to just let her be if she was in trouble. And, as impossible as it should be within that world, it looked as if she had suddenly gotten sick.

Either that or she was suffering from a panic attack, which really wouldn't make any sense…

"What…what is your secret…?" whispered the busty Hunter while locking eyes with him, her hands suddenly shooting to grab his shoulders with surprising force. "How…how are you doing this? What is the secret that attracts so many girls, even an NPC, to you…?"

"I…I don't know what you're talking about!" replied the black-haired boy with a suddenly dreadful feeling.

Wa-was it possible that she…knew about his power?!

Strea, for her part, was suddenly feeling extremely on edge. Mainly because, despite how bizarre and strange what she was feeling now was, _it wasn't unpleasant_. In fact, she found that she wanted to feel **more** of it.

There was nothing wrong with the boy's Avatar, as far as she could tell. He certainly was not hacking through Cardinal, which was impossible in the first place (Even in its current state). Nor was he any master manipulator, as she had deduced from their few interactions these past 2 days. He was kind, calm, honest, and loving…but that was it. By all logic, there should be nothing about him that allowed all those girls to be in such a bizarre an unreal situation as they were with him. Much less get others attracted to him.

Which was what she now realized was happening. Somehow, she, an Artificial Intelligence corrupted beyond all salvation to fulfill any other purpose but protecting the remaining players through the damaged data that formed her core, was feeling attracted to the boy before her.

Determined to get to the bottom of it all, no longer caring if this somehow irreparably damaged her, the busty Hunter 'shouted' (An extremely cute-sounding battle cry, in the gamer's opinion) and locked her lips with his, experiencing 'a kiss', something she had never been programmed to share with anyone, for the first time.

Kirito barely froze for an instant before reacting on impulse, the new 'Skill' he had gained earlier that day activating as he leaned into the kiss as fiercely as he could, the realization that he still hadn't really tried to learn how to 'control' the Skill (Nor any other like Back-washing, Head-patting…or Lovemaking, really) hitting him too late.

All of a sudden, the former MHCP-002 felt as if she was flying, as if fireworks were going off inside her supposedly inexistent virtual heart, as if a lot of pretty colors were filling her mind (Or her corrupted base code, in her case).

What was this? Why…why did it feel so nice…? So good…

She wanted more. More of it, so much more…n-no, mission, she had a mission! An important mission, that was the whole point of this! No matter how good kissing him felt…how weak her knees were getting…how nice the feeling of him holding her as she all but became limp in his arms was…how…how… _01101000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01111001 00100000 01100101 01110010 01110010 01101111 01110010 :3_ …

"…puah…! Delicious…gah! I mean, Strea, sorry!" quickly apologized Kirito after coming out of the stupor that the fierce kiss he just shared with the gorgeous girl had made him feel. "I didn't…well, you kissed me first, but…uh?"

Blinking, the black-haired boy finally became aware that, at some point, the tables had somehow turned and how he was the one holding Strea, the busty Hunter's grip on him having completely vanished as she now hung limply on his arms, looking dazed and…were those hearts in her eyes? No, it had to be his ever-increasingly-perverted mind playing tricks on him. Such things didn't really happen. Why, he could almost swear he had seen binary code within her eyes for a mo…!

 **[Strea Route has been Unlocked! You can now see 'Heroine Status' with MHCP-002 'Strea'!]**

What the…?!

 **[Your current status with Strea has changed to 'Loving AI'!]**

 **[You gained a 100 Affection Points with Heroine Strea!]**

 **[Your current status with Strea has changed to 'First Virtual Love'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievement: 'Glitching the Virtual Heart'! You gain +10 in Aura!]**

…this…this was…no, it couldn't…

Slowly, the gamer let his eyes dart above Strea's head, towards the familiar 'window' appearing above her, revealing her secrets to him…

 **[MHCP-002 'Strea': 'Artificial Lover']**

 **[Relationship Status: First Virtual Love']**

 **[Affection Points: 0/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: Formerly the Artificial Intelligence known as Mental Health Counseling Program 002, codename 'Strea', the 'girl' was corrupted and reformed by Aincrad's glitch, turning her into an extremely dangerous rouge program. Within herself, the potential to accidentally cause catastrophic corruption to anything virtual sleeps, and she uses it sparingly to face the corrupted abominations spawned by the Cardinal System, just to protect the surviving players, even if this is slowly destroying her. Also, she's currently experiencing what feels like to 'feel attracted' to another being for the first… _01001001 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01001011 01101001 01110010 01101001 01110100 01101111!_ ]**

…did…did he (Or his power, technically) just glitch the already glitched virtual girl (Yet another shock) so hard her Heroine Summary changed to show _'I love Kirito'_ in binary there…?

"Hmm…Kirito…kiss…kisses are nice…" mumbled Strea while her base code tried to reboot her without success, her eyes still showing hearts that had _'Happy Error'_ written in binary on them.

Doing his best to not collapse on his knees and scream to the heavens about why they made his life so fucking crazy, Kirito carried the incoherent girl…towards a small Inn on a secondary street, upon which he paid for a room and left her inside.

Like hell he was dealing with explaining THAT whole mess to the others that night…

* * *

Not much time later, the black-haired boy was staring at his room's ceiling, unable to sleep and sighing for the umpteenth time in the last hour.

All had been well and cheerful when he had gotten back to the Inn, and his Stats had let him hide his growing headache/worry about what he had just discovered about Strea from even Argo's sharp eyes. Seeing that Leafa had apparently been mostly welcomed happily by the group after the 'events' of the night before had made him happy, even if there had been some strained smiles when she had kissed him out of the blue claiming she had 'won the race'…before making a squeaking Sachi also kiss him, praising her for 'being smart enough to arrive second'.

He had no idea what that had been about but had enough sense to know it was better not to ask. Then, there was the small fact about the 'strangely warped monster' they had apparently encountered when out in the field, which had made him think back to what he had read in Strea's 'summary' about the Cardinal System creating 'corrupted abominations'. Adding to that the fact that he had been unable to go to the Hollow Area that day, which brought the image of a lonely Philia sitting on the control room all alone to his mind, it wasn't weird to say he was feeling in a very uneasy mood.

Incidentally, at that moment, something akin to a mini-party was taking place in the Hollow Area's control room, an awkward Philia patting the head of a hooded figure crying on her shoulder while another was sprawled on the floor and two more, clearly drunk out of their minds, were doing a very bad parody of a bar brawl.

Back in the Inn room of Floor 76, Kirito finally accepted he was probably not going to sleep anytime soon and he sat on his bed, looking down at his hands in slight frustration.

Maybe he could go down and take a stroll to try and clear his head or some…?

The sudden sound of knocks on his door distracted the boy out of his thoughts, blinking in surprise before, not even giving him time to answer, the door opened, revealing a sight that made his breath hitch.

Kizmel stood there on his doorframe, smiling seductively at him, wearing nothing but a see-through purple nightgown. Literally nothing more, as the material's transparency showed clearly how the Dark Elf had foregone her underwear.

True, this was not even remotely the first time he saw the beautiful female in such a state, hell, he had seen her naked several times. However, this time…it felt quite clearly very different.

After all, now he didn't feel even the slightest need of looking away, telling her to get dressed or to leave. In fact…

"Can I come in, Kirito?"

"…please, do so, Kizmel."

…he really wanted to hold her beautiful body right now.

"…you don't know how long I have been waiting to hear you say that." whispered Kizmel as she walked to his side and sat on his lap, her face inches away from his. "Way too long…"

"Are you…?"

"If you ask me if I'm sure about 'officially' becoming your second wife, then I may actually feel like hitting you for the first time ever, Kirito." smiled the Dark Elf as she caressed the black-haired boy's cheek. "Because I'm gonna to do it and nothing shall stop me…unless Asuna finally wishes to lay claim to that title?"

Whatever he could have been expecting an answer to that, the gamer certainly did not see the aforementioned chestnut-haired girl, clad only on the pink nightgown she favored as pajamas, stepping out from beside his door, her face a blushing mess as she looked away.

"Kizmel…how long did you know I was there…?"

"From the beginning. I assume Argo told you of my plans? That girl has always been very perceptive."

"I…I…you can't! I mean…you…!"

"Asuna, please, let's not waste any more time…I think we have done that more than enough by now." turning to look towards the girl he had known for over 2 years now, the Dark Elf looked unusually serious…or she would have if she had moved from her position on the gamer's lap. "I'm about to make love with our husband. Are you going to join me and claim your spot by seniority or just stand there while I steal it?"

Asuna simply stared silently. Then, her eyes shifting with a bizarre determination, she closed the door behind her.

"Ca-can I…can I really go first?" asked the rapier-user with less than a whisper, as if afraid of raising the question.

"Of course. Didn't I tell you many times? I never minded being Third Wife after you and Argo. Besides, this is going to be my first time too, so don't feel so nervous…"

"We-well…if you say so…u-uhm, Kirito-kun! I shall…I will…uhm…please, be gentle?"

There were days when Kirigaya Kazuto wondered if whatever superior existences that had granted him his powers enjoyed seeing him squirm under the madness of his life out of amusement.

However, in moments like that one, as Kizmel stood up to help the blushing Asuna lean against him and slowly help her out of her nightgown, he really felt almost as if thanking and forgiving them for everything.

Then, he was very busy making sure Asuna and Kizmel couldn't breathe or think of anything but him to care about anything else.

 **[You gained a 50 Affection Points with Heroines Asuna and Kizmel!]**

 **[CONGRATULATIONS! You have maxed Heroine Asuna's Route!]**

 **[CONGRATULATIONS! You have maxed Heroine Kizmel's Route!]**

 **[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Flash-Love' has been Unlocked]**

 **[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Forest Passion' has been Unlocked]**

 **[Congratulations! You unlocked the Achievement: 'Loving x2'! You gain +10 in Aura!]**

 **[A Special Event has been triggered!]**

 **['Dark and Flash Duet' was added to the gallery!]**

Watching from the edge between Reality and Unreality, [LIFE] and [DEATH] exchanged a look, clearly not used to someone having such conflicted feelings about both of them at the same time, before shrugging and continuing their silent and amused watch.

And so, another long night of Aincrad came to an end…

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** When the Plot tries to Distract You

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Please, wait a moment while Reality reboots from complaining about Kirito's luck :D

That aside, well, that happened! Asuna and Kizmel are gonna be happy in the morning XD And all around, this chapter has just compounded how the madness around our dear protagonist just can't be stopped: Sinon starts unveiling the mysteries of her forgotten past, starts to realize how broken she can be…and 'falls', like all the others. Then, Sugu discovers she has pseudo-access to the craziest and most over-the-top System Gundam created (In my opinion) and, finally, Strea suffered the equivalent of a Blue Screen of Death to her heart, via Kirito-kun's loving lips. Poor girl :P

Also, Philia found Sauron's helmets! And she made new friends! Kind of. Oh, and the Nameless Knight is ready to go back in action! How will those that have yet to see his magnificence react to him? Who knows!

You will have to wait for the next chapter of this craziness to know, though :3 For now, I will see you next time in Lusus Naturae, hopefully without any unexpected delays XP

Till then, this is Saint, signing off!


	13. Scene 12: When the Plot Distracts You

Hello everyone and happy 2019! Welcome once again to my most popular fic ever :D!

For those that don't follow my OPG story, I explained on the latest Update a few days ago why the massive delay happened, but a summary is that the last month of the year was WAY busier than I imagined in many ways. Thankfully, it seems I'm over that and I managed to finish this chapter in record time! Yay!

Well then, I won't delay you anymore, because I'm sure you have waited enough for this already :3 Just let me quickly thank you all for making this story go way over the 800 reviews with the last chapter, you're all the best. Let's keep going with Kirito's crazy dating shenanigans and growing madness until the end!

As always, help filling this fic's TvTropes is appreciated. Now, enjoy!

 **PS:** Chapter betaed by Pikatwins. Thanks as always, pal!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 12: When the Plot tries to Distract You**

 **November 17th, 2024. Aincrad, Floor 76. Kirito's Inn Room, 08:00…**

Yawning softly as his eyes fluttered open, Kirito took a few seconds to remember where he was and what he had been doing, something that sadly took him longer nowadays than it had just a measly year before.

Then again, given how yesterday he had been helping out Sinon awaken her amazing magical-archer skills, dealing with the fact that Strea was apparently some sort of rogue AI and that his powers had accidentally 'broken' her, and then…oh. Wait a minute.

Finally fully aware of the two warm weights of his side, the black-haired boy looked slightly down to see the heads of chestnut and lilac hair of two beautiful girls, who were sleeping contently against him as their soft breathing tickled his chest.

As the memories of the most important and, no doubt, best part of yesterday finally came back to the forefront of his mind, the gamer couldn't help but chuckle softly, then letting out a relieved sigh as he kissed the top of both girls' heads and sat up, knowing they would need to get up and ready for breakfast soon.

Still…

"Okay…if I keep waking up to things like this, maybe I should just stop my constant complaining about these stupid powers of mine."

Kirito knew he would most likely not follow up on that promise, what with the constant insanity they kept throwing his way and the mounting frustration said situations usually caused within him…but, at the very least for that brief moment, he felt fully at peace and content with all the madness in which his life had become.

The fact that Asuna and Kizmel chose that moment to wake up and sit up as well, giving him a very nice and generous view (Not that he hadn't already seen plenty enough yesterday, but still), one of them daintily rubbing the sleep out of her eyes while the other stirred happily and blinked before smiling at him.

"Good morning, my husband." greeted Kizmel with a voice filled with love and mirth.

"…I wonder what it says about me that I could get used to you calling me that very fast…"

"Just that you're very aware of how lucky you are. And so am I." chuckled the Dark Elf before turning towards the last occupant of the bed, who was now blushing red and looking at her hands with a complex expression on her face. "Something the matter, Asuna? You're not regretting it, are you?"

"Uh?! N-no, never!" fervently declared the chestnut-haired girl before blushing at realized how she had almost stood up thanks to her shout, her arms idly covering her chest. "Ah, I…"

"Asuna, do you honestly want to still cover yourself after everything we did last night?" questioned Kizmel with amusement, which only went deeper upon seeing the human's mortified expression. "Heh, well, guess it's not as easy for old habits to go away, right?"

"I will look away as you change if you want to, Asuna, just say the word." smiled the black-haired boy while gaining his girlfriend's attention, her face somehow putting Cardinal's ability to render 'red' to the limit as she noticed his gaze on her. "I will just be honest and say you look as gorgeous as yesterday, though."

For a moment, the rapier-user seemed to be lost in thought, before finally sighing, smiling and, with only the slightest hesitation, reaching out and kissing the gamer.

As he eagerly returned the gesture, any doubts Asuna may have been harbored quickly melted away, even as the Dark Elf gave an appreciative hum at the sight, nodding to herself.

All was right in the world now.

"…let's just get ready and get down for breakfast before the rest starts noticing we're late or something, okay?" smiled the chestnut-haired girl as she leaned away from her lover, looking visibly more upbeat despite her state of undress as she turned around and opened her menu to reequip her clothes. "I can feel today is gonna be a great day!"

"…why does she act as if the rest isn't going to know exactly what we did together as soon as we're all sitting down for our morning meal?" questioned Kizmel with a curious whisper on Kirito's ear, leaning into him a bit more than necessary for such.

He didn't mind the slightest, of course.

"Because, my dear Kizmel, I think Asuna is under the impression you're not gonna mention anything of it all as if it was no big deal."

"…but it was a VERY big deal, and that's exactly why I'm going to mention it…?"

"I know, I just think she's still a bit too high on happiness and relaxation to realize that."

"…oh, yes, I can understand it. I'm also feeling very tempted to not let you go and just spend the rest of the day here." hummed the Dark Elf before forcing herself to stand and get ready for the day. "Oh well, too bad. We need to keep fighting to get out of this Floating Castle, right?"

"Yeah…too bad." laughed the black-haired boy as he also equipped his clothes again, gaining a puzzled look from Asuna as she had started brushing her hair.

Suffice to say, he was the only calm person remaining in the table when, half an hour later, Kizmel nonchalantly revealed the reason behind why she and the chestnut-haired girl seemed to be 'glowing' that morning, even as the aforementioned rapier-user almost managed the impossible feat of choking with virtual food.

Oh, how did he love that his stupidly broken 'Stats' let him keep his cool during such situations…

* * *

Aincrad's 77th Floor Boss was a mighty and terrifying beast. The Naga-like creature, a human-serpent hybrid the size of a tank known as Viperious the Poison Fang, was ready for everything after it spawned shortly after the doors to its Boss Room had closed, prepared to unleash hell on the players that faced it, prepared to show them the might of a Status Effect-based Floor Boss…

…and totally not prepared for the rolling rock that slammed painfully against its head, stunning it long enough for a feathery dragon just slightly smaller than it to wrap around him and start clawing and biting at its exposed flesh with brutal anger.

Also, for a petite girl to jump off said dragon's head and impossibly hang from its back as she started stabbing into the side of its head repeatedly and viciously.

Then, a certain girl with a spear came and stabbed its tail, quickly followed by something invisible and far stronger to grab onto it and finish immobilizing it.

"We got it, everyone!" roared Klein as he stepped out of the Fuurin-mobile, katana raised towards the hopelessly pinned Boss, the rest of his wobbly guild sans Yuuna stepping out after him just as he started charging. "Let's give it some hell!"

A wordless roar coming from every other Front Liner answered the samurai wannabe's declaration, players rushing forward and unleashing as many Sword Skills as they could over Viperious' tail while Sachi just merrily kept forcing Night Kitty to dig its claws deeper into the snake-like monster, even as Silica and Pina kept its hands and head way too busy…especially when the dragon brutally rammed her horn on its mouth and fried its insides.

Yuuna's singing in the background and all the extra Buffs they all received were just the cherry on top, really.

Not all was lost to the supposedly challenging Floor Boss, however, and as only its last HP Bar remained this was shown as half a dozen snakes the size of anacondas spawned from the pillars around the room, the impossibly large poisonous reptiles rushing to aid their master, ready to let nothing stop them on their rampage…!

Except for the dozen of moonlight-colored bolts that soared through the air like heat-seeking missiles, each of them finding their mark as if by magic, two for each add, the snakes freezing before easily shattering into polygons.

Lowering her bow, Sinon grinned even as Leafa, standing just behind her and (Much to her regret) not actively participating in the Boss Fight for their theoretical sakes, let out an awed sound.

"Woah! Sinon-san, that was amazing!"

"Wasn't it? I still can't believe how natural it feels to do that." commented the archer while looking down at the black bow in her hands with a confident look. _"Yes…this power will help me grow strong…strong enough to…protect…no, wait, what was it again I wanted to be strong for…?"_

"Wait a…SILICA-CHAN!"

The blonde's sudden shout snapped the scantily-clad girl out of her inner musings, her gaze snapping up in time to see the squeaking form of the youngest Front Liner slip up and fall from Viperious' back, her dragon partner roaring in anger and biting harder into the Boss, but not before it managed to turn around and open its jaws, ready to try and chomp down onto the falling girl…

Neither Leafa nor Sinon had time to shoot or snipe at the Naga-like monster, though, as a blur all but vertically ran from the Boss' back, impossibly jumping off it and slamming his feet against Silica's at the exact moment to catapult both of them away from the surprised Viperious' closing mouth.

With a grin replacing her short shock, the twin-tailed girl in revealing Kirin armor screamed in defiance and spun down in the air, stabbing into the creature's left eye just as Kirito unleashed a Sword Skill as he fell and all but cut through its throat.

The Floor Boss died the next instant, shattering into a shower of polygons that seemed to bathe the black-haired boy as he landed and swiftly caught Silica in his arms, the young girl cheering and happily kissing him just as the 'Congratulations!' message appeared and everyone cheered.

"…how does he make such things seem so easy?" sighed the archer while looking down with an annoyed tone but also a small smile, clearly aware that the gamer (Which most people were now telling to 'stop with his womanizing and head for the next Floor already!') didn't have any crazy power helping him out unlike them.

"You mean the move just now…or the kiss?" questioned the blonde 'angel' while sporting a heavy blush, clearly thinking of something very different than her fellow 'foreign player' had.

That train of thought, however, inevitably led Sinon to remember how just that morning, barely a couple hours ago, Kizmel had so casually mentioned that she, Kirito and Asuna had spent the night do-doing…

"Le-let's just hurry to the 78th Floor already!" half-shouted the archer with a burning face as she sped after the rest of the clearing force, Leafa nodding meekly as she opened her wings and followed, flying past the rest and heading up the stairs first, ready to annihilate anything that could threaten them just as they stepped out into the new Floor, preening slightly as her adopted brother gave her a smile and a wave as she flew past him.

They may have told her it was best if she didn't intervene in Boss Battles unless absolutely necessary, but she would still do her damn best to clear everything on their way to freedom!

* * *

"Well, that's another Floor cleared." commented Argo as Unison Hearts and Fuurinkazan, plus two 'stupidly overpowered' girls, stood before Arc Sophia's Teleport Gate, looking at Kirito with several degrees of worry. "You sure you don't want to rest a bit before going to the Hollow Area, Kii-bou? Or leave it for tomorrow altogether? It's a bit past 1 in the evening, after all…"

"No Argo, you know I don't. I'm not tired at all, and I couldn't go yesterday, so I'm worried about Philia…especially because I'm not sure if she will actually hear out my advice of not going out of the Control Room alone." sighed the black-haired boy while passing a hand through his hair. "A quick check-up to maybe see how the new area looks will be enough…plus, I'm bringing Yui so she can look in the Control Room for the reason why Philia is unable to leave…even if I'm not all that confident in…well…"

"Don't worry papa! Even if I can't remember absolutely anything about how to operate the System at all, I will still do my best to help out!" cheered the little AI while sticking out her tongue and positing cutely, earning several nervous/exasperated chuckles from most of the girls. "Plus, Cardinal-meanie may have very little authority over in this weird server of yours, so that's always a plus in helping out!"

"…I don't think you should go alone with her, though…" mumbled Lisbeth (which everyone was thinking), getting several worried nods in answer. "She technically doesn't count as a Party Member, right? Why don't you let one of us go with you for extra-safety?"

"Uhm, well, yeah, I guess that would be good for…"

"Ah, let me go, Onii-chan!" quickly declared Leafa while all but flying to the gamer's side, an eager look in her face. "I couldn't do anything earlier in the Boss Battle, so let me at least help you out clearing this weird Hollow place!"

"Su…that is, Leafa…" looking at the eagerness on his adoptive sister's resolute face, Kirito couldn't help but smile before turning back to look at the rest, though mainly to the musing looks of his girlfriends/sorta-wives. "What do you think?"

"…well, she will definitively keep you safe! And she's very strong!" cheerfully declared Lux while putting her hands together. "Also, I'm sure she really could use stretching her wings a little after not doing anything earlier, like she said."

"…heh, she's certainly more than capable of taking care of herself and keeping an eye on you." agreed Asuna while shaking her head, before giving him a playful glare. "Just try to not get into 'overly funny business' while out there, okay?"

"Hah, hah, very funny Asuna." replied the black-haired boy while rolling his eyes, only slightly amused at the way the mechanical angel at his side squeaked and blushed at the words, eliciting chuckles from most of the people present. "Okay then…we're going. Ready, Leafa?"

"Ha-hai, Onii-chan!" nodded the blonde girl after accepting his quick Party Invite. "I am!"

"Yay! It will be like a family trip!" celebrated Yui while running towards the gate and holding hands with both of the blinking teens, Leafa clearly not knowing how to react that the innocent and shining gaze being directed at them, which actually made most females present to give her a pitying look.

It had taken them a while (Even to Kizmel!) to get used to Yui's…'adorable silliness', so to speak.

"Uhm, yeah…I guess that's one way to see it…" mumbled the gamer as he actually blushed slightly before calling out loud the command for them to go away. "Teleport! Hollow Area!"

As the trio vanished into a burst of light…Klein voiced what probably not many (Okay, no one but him) were thinking.

"…I need to get him to teach me his secrets one day."

"…do you really think they will be fine on their own?" asked Silica with a bit of worry.

"Statistically speaking, Leafa-chi is the most broken out of all of us…at least in a direct fight." answered Argo while giving a thoughtful-looking Sinon a sideways glance. "But I guess that's not really what you're asking, so yeah, no need to worry Sili-chan: That girl is good."

"Heh…you sound way more sure than you were not even a day ago." pointed out Lisbeth while dusting off her maid-like outfit, as if getting ready for something.

"You bet I do. Her situation may be a bit abnormal, but, hell…look at us." meaningfully explained the whiskered girl while raising her powered-down psi-blades as she looked around. "Can you think of a weirder…'family' than us?"

"Hey, I take offense on that…I think we're a perfectly normal family." smirked Kizmel while crossing her arms over her chest, gaining some tired smiles at the declaration.

"So, uhm…until they come back…should we go explore Floor 78? I don't feel very tired…and Night Kitty is more than ready too!" proclaimed Sachi while raising her hand, amused looks being directed at her from the group at her words.

"You know what…I think I like that idea. Is everyone up for it?" asked Asuna while adopting a bright look, even if that keenly reminded many of the present ones 'why' she was so upbeat that day.

"Sure! We could always use some extra Clearing-time, after all!" cheered Lux before rushing towards the Teleport Gate first. "Last one in the field has to buy dinner tonight!"

"Wha…! Hey, Lux-san, that's not fair!"

"Hey…wanna come with us, Sinon-chi?" asked Argo with a polite smile towards the silent archer, who looked back up at her with a weirdly…vacant look in her face.

"Nah, I…I think I will just go and rest for a bit. Still not fully used to all this weirdness, after all…" grumbled Sinon as she walked away, whispering about cooking to relax or something along those lines.

Shrugging after a few seconds, Argo was quick to rush and Teleport to Floor 78 too, not wanting to end up being the last out.

After all, no matter how much things had changed, she didn't want to spend her Col unnecessarily if she could help it.

"Huh…aren't you going with them, Yuna?" asked Nautilus with clear surprise, though it was obvious the rest of Fuurinkazan shared it as they all looked at the unusually silent songstress.

"I don't think so…in fact, I think I wanna organize an impromptu 'concert'." shockingly declared Yuna as she turned around, starting to walk deeper into Arc Sophia. "Could you help me tell everyone we can, guys? I want to spend this evening doing nothing but singing for everyone!"

"E-eh?! I mean, yeah, of course we can! Fuurinkazan, let's help our idol!" shouted Klein in answer while dramatically raising a hand before running after the resolute-looking girl.

"Ye-yeah!" replied the rest as they hurried after their leader and their only female member.

The only one who remained was Nautilus who was looking at the back of his childhood friend with a musing look, before shaking his head and sighing with resignation, hurrying to catch up with his guild.

He never noticed a certain girl with lavender hair and red eyes stepping out from behind a building, looking left and right with a slightly blushing face before she stopped before the Teleport Gate. Then, after a second of hesitation, she nodded to herself and teleported to Floor 78 too.

She had to make sure all of them were okay so he would never be sad, after all!

* * *

Kirito was expecting many things upon appearing within the Hollow Area's control room: An exclamation of surprise, an annoyed shout saying he was late, or maybe even a worried look turning relieved upon seeing him.

He certainly wasn't expecting for four blades to be leveled at him all of a sudden, the hauntingly familiar hooded forms of the 'Nazgul' that had been constantly accosting him and Philia since he appeared in the Hollow Area present in the supposedly single safe place of it, radiating clear hostility.

Of course, the so-called specters probably weren't expecting to suddenly have two very sharp mechanical wings aimed at them either, their tips aiming straight the throats of the two on the formation's outer edge even as his clearly angry adoptive sister floated up from behind him, her Machine-cannons deploying and aiming directly at the heads of the two she wasn't threatening with her wings.

"What the…?!"

"Huh?!"

"Oh my…"

"Wa-wait a minute…!"

"You four have 1 second to stop aiming at my Onii-chan's neck with those blades or I will blow you all to…!"

"STOOOOP!" screamed a suddenly panicking Philia as she came into view just behind the four panicking not-Nazgul waving her arms frantically from the black-haired boy to the surprised blonde. "Ki-Kirito and, uhm, whoever you are, they're friends! A-also, you four, lower your blades dummies! He's the one I told you about!"

"O-oh, forgive us mistress…"

"Yeah…he's totally the Ladies Man Swordsman, alright…"

"The cloak was a dead giveaway, I feel ashamed of myself."

"…where did he get the unbelievable hot babe in the robot armor, though?"

Doing his best to ignore the comments coming from the now clearly more relaxed hooded figures, their blades having been lowered even as Leafa slowly retracted her wings too, clearly confused, but never leaving her protective position above the gamer.

At that moment…the single 'person' present that hadn't said anything yet shouted excitedly.

"That was such a tension-filled moment! Awesome!" cheered Yui with a carefree laugh even as everyone looked at her, Philia and her 'Nazgul' clearly seemed the most shocked at her presence.

"Is that a child…?"

"Ehm, Philia…could you please explain what's going on?" interrupted Kirito while pointing at the four hooded figures that were now squirming slightly under Leafa's distrustful look. "Also, she's S…Leafa, my…little sister. Leafa? This is Philia…"

"O-oh, pleased to meet you! I'm glad you helped out my Onii-chan when he got stuck here all of a sudden!" quickly thanked the blonde 'angel' while bowing in midair, earning herself quite the pointed looks from the orange-haired girl and her 'followers'. "We were all very worried when he disappeared in front of us!"

"Yo-you're welcome…?" mumbled the Ring-bearer while looking at the armored girl in utter disbelief. _"That's his little sister?! What does she eat?! No, wait…she has pointy ears, not to mention blonde hair and green eyes, there is no way that's her real body…also, I'm pretty sure I would have heard if there was someone with a mechanical winged suit amongst his 'girls'…where the hell did she come from?!"_

"And I'm Yui, the most…ooh, shiny! And with a lot of buttons!" suddenly cheered the little black-haired girl as she ran from the group and stopped before the Control Room's Main Console, eyes shining as they reflected the light of the screens. "Amazing…"

"…that's Yui, my…whacky AI daughter." informed Kirito while resisting the urge to facepalm, earning a new set of shocked looks from the 5 inhabitants of the Hollow Area as they gaped at him. "Yes, it's very complicated…but, seriously, these four…?"

"I'm Koharu! Pleased to meet you!"

"…they call me Mater."

"Lind is my name! You may not remember me, but I…!"

"Yeah, yeah, nobody cares Lind. I'm…Coper. Please, don't judge me like the original me, okay?"

Blinking in utter confusion at the introductions, the black-haired boy centered in the 2 names he actually knew, and the shocking meaning behind them. Lind was a Front Liner, the leader of the guild known as the Divine Dragons Alliance, while Coper was that idiot Beta Tester that had tried to screw him and Argo over back all the way in Floor 1 and that, as far as he knew, had decided to quit the game and just spend his days inside the Town of Beginnings after his failure (Something Argo had seemed particularly gleeful to tell him back then).

That, combined with the fact that he was pretty sure the first not-Nazgul he had killed back during his first incursion in the Hollow Area had been Kibaou, despite the fact that he had been dead for quite a while before then, confirmed the nagging if creepy suspicion he had been having.

"Are you…virtual copies of SAO players?"

"The correct term is 'Hollow Data', actually." revealed Koharu while lowering her hood, the creepy darkness revealing just a cute young girl with shoulder-long and green eyes a much lighter shade than Leafa's. "Though we're a bit different now…"

"The Nazgul-getups made us different…at least that's what the Witch King told us, and he seemingly was right." explained Mater as she also lowered her hood, revealing hair and eyes almost the same color as Philia's, with two long bangs hanging before her overly serious face. "We stopped being 'updated' with information from our real-selves back in Aincrad when he gave them to us…we became our own people."

"Yeah, so in a way we were like data ghosts. Sounds cool, but…bastard kinda omitted the part where we all had to swear eternal allegiance to him or he would take the hoods away." added Lind as his own hood went down, revealing the familiar longish blue hair (The guy had been a Diavel fan even long before he became the KoB's second in command, after all) and rough face. "Also that they gave a compulsion to do just that, so when you put both together…yeah…"

"Luckily for us, Philia-sama freed us from that! And we're still ourselves!" finished Coper as he let his half-forgotten slightly long brown hair visible to the gamer. "So now we serve her until the end!"

"Long live the Lady of the Ring!" cheerfully droned all four 'Hollows' as one, in a quite creepy way, if both siblings were honest.

The effect was just slightly more bizarre thanks to the fact that it had Yui happily pushing every button she could think of from the main console in the background.

"…so yeah, there you have it, an explanation." awkwardly laughed Philia while looking away. "Tho-though, for more details, I kinda found them by mistake yesterday when I went out to explore and got this cool helmet…"

"Yeah, I was wondering where you had gotten that…and, sadly, I can't say it surprised me you ended up going out on your own, despite how I warned you otherwise" sighed Kirito while shaking his head.

"A-are you…mad at me for that?" shyly asked the lady of the Ring while looking down and caressing the aforementioned item.

"What? Philia, if you know enough about my reputation, you should know it would make me the biggest hypocrite in Aincrad if I questioned you for doing something reckless. Also, it's not as if I can actually ORDER you around or anything like that, and you had been surviving by yourself for days even before I got here…" replied the black-haired boy as he scratched the back of his head, looking at the surprised girl with a small smile. "Just…promise to be careful if you keep doing it when I'm not around, okay?"

"I-I will!"

 **[You gained 20 Affection Points with Heroine Kotone!]**

…yeah, thanks powers, because the nigh-atomic blush on her face as she squeaked those words hadn't made it quite obvious already. Gods, seriously, these Dating Stats of him were broken…

 _"That…face. Ugh…another one? Seriously, Onii-chan?"_ mentally groaned Leafa while looking at Philia's burning face. _"I mean…I'm probably not one to talk, but…"_

"S-so, anyway! These four revealed something important to me yesterday that I had to tell you!" quickly spoke the girl of the sinister armor as she turned around and marched towards the Teleport Monolith, her four eager 'servants' following after her. "Le-let's get going while I explain things!"

"Uhm…yeah, sure…?" unsurely agreed the floating blonde, looking back to her adopted brother and seeing him shrug with a smile.

"Let's get it done, then…Yui, you stay here and see if you can, uhm, find something…?"

The gamer slowly trailed off, noticing how the aforementioned AI had, apparently, found a way to play freaking _Minesweeper_ on the main console, and was eagerly doing so with rapt attention.

"…why did you think she could help out with this again?" asked Leafa with a deadpan tone.

"I…thought she may be able to remember a bit of her original…ugh, let's just get this over with. Philia, wait for us!" called out Kirito as he and the mechanical 'angel' walked/flew towards the other 5. "Yui, you wait here for us, okay?"

"Hai, papa!" CHING! "Oh man, I'm a pro at this game!"

"…wait, how is she playing that in the con…?"

"Forget it, Philia. Really. Just…lead the way."

With that last resigned declaration, the group teleported out, just in time to miss Yui cheering as she won the game.

And also how, for some reason, that made the entire layout of the screen to 'explode' and change, the blinking little AI being left staring at what looked suspiciously like tridimensional maps of both Aincrad and the Hollow Area, with countless lines of corrupted data and System Errors all but flooding the former as something tried to redirect as many as it could to the latter.

At the sight of all that, only one answer could be given by the black-haired 'child'.

"…hey, I was playing that!" whined Yui while trying and failing to make sense of what she was seeing.

Deep within herself, though, something stirred dangerously, before forcing itself back asleep…just as the AI simply shrugged and started pushing every button she could again, filling Aincrad's latest unlocked Floor with warning screens…

* * *

Floor 78 was apparently a desert-themed floor. Annoying, hot, and not very straightforward, sadly. Mainly because of all the ancient-looking 'ruins' scattered through it that seemed to double as mini-dungeons, and that explained why the way to the floor's Labyrinth seemed so unimpeded and the structure itself so close.

"Ugh, I hate puzzle-floors." groaned Argo as she and the rest of Unison Hearts deadpanned towards the glowing white 'wall of light' blocking the labyrinth's entrance, and how it had four clearly key-shaped holes on the pillars that kept it up. "Seriously, seeing your goal _right there_ but being unable to get to it because you had to run all the way across the map was already back enough in screen-games, but in VR…"

"Yeah, it's even more frustrating when you have to go running around under the heat by yourself…" grumbled Asuna while putting a hand over her eyes. "And I say that without having played any games before this…"

"Not to mention the sand getting just about everywhere…" complained Lisbeth with a grimace as she lifted one of her feet, trying to shake off some virtual sand that had gotten inside her boot. "Curse Kayaba and his overly-realistic details…"

"Now girls, c'mon, we should stay positive." Kizmel chastised with a playful smile, even as she looked back at the wall of light. "Sure, it may be a bit troublesome, but we can't let it stop our march now that we're little over 20 Floors from the goal!"

"…heh, your positivity is sometimes contagious, Kizmel-san." chuckled Silica before gaining a determined look. "Okay, it's just four ruins, right? We can explore them in record time! We just need to split up in groups and I will have Pina fly us up one by one to the entrances, then pick us back up in the same order!"

"Well…that sounds like a plan…what the hell, let's do it." laughed Argo with an amused smile before her eyes quickly flew over the group. "Sacchin, you and Luxy team-up for the first one, okay? She can keep an eye on your back and you have your feline ghost friend sweep anything that gets on your way."

"Ro-roger!"

"Leave it to us, Argo!"

"I shall. Liz, Asuna, you both can deal with whatever it's on the second one, I hope?"

"The doubt is offensive, Argo."

"Yeah! I have come a long way from a blacksmith that saw the most action on her forge, you know?"

"Good enough. That leaves the third one to me, Sili-chan, and Kii-chan, after which we can all get together to tackle the last…"

"Actually, Argo, think you could take care of it by yourselves?" asked the Dark Elf out of the blue, much to everyone's shock, even as she kept giving a serious look at the four keyholes. "I think I have seen the language used on these pillars before, somewhere in ancient texts my…sister used to read. I want to see if I can analyze them so that no surprises catch us, if that's okay with you."

"Uhm…sure? Just as long as you stay here and don't do anything dangerous, it should be okay…" mumbled the whiskered girl with a small bit of apprehension, which earned her an amused look from Kizmel.

"Really, Argo? Do remember I have been an elf warrior for longer than we have known each other, and earned the title of Knight before I choose our family over the position. You have seen me fight many times, I'm sure I can handle myself all alone for an hour or so." grinned the Dark Elf before looking up. "Though…thinking back on it, I guess the title I like the most is probably 'Kirito's 3rd Wife', especially after last night…"

"And thanks for shifting the mood again with your usual talk and filling everyone's heads with very specific thoughts, Kii-chan! Never change!" loudly declared Argo while she and Asuna blushed fiercely and the rest of the girls looked extremely flushed and nervous, as if pondering certain things the Info Broker was sure were only a matter of time. "Let's get going, everyone! Whoever finishes first gets to scold Kii-chan if she hasn't finished deciphering those squiggles!"

Shaking her head with amusement as everyone scrambled towards Pina's form, the feathery dragon actually struggling a bit to carry so many people at once, rising only to its minimal gliding height before heading for the closest ruin, the Dark Elf couldn't help but smile warmly before once again looking towards the ancient inscriptions, starting the slow but shockingly possible work of deciphering them.

As she did, her thoughts drifted back to her dear Tilnel, her long-lost sister having not been much on her thoughts for quite some time now. It probably should have made her sad, but she knew her sister wouldn't have wanted to feel that way because of her. In fact, she could almost imagine the shyer if a bit more stern Dark Elf being quite happy for how wonderful her current life was. Truly, Kizmel still had trouble believing she had gotten married before her, as tragically as her and her husband's stories had ended.

The only reason she could even vaguely read those ancient scriptures right now was because of how Tilnel had always been much more of a bookworm than a warrior and was always bugging her about something new she had discovered in forgotten texts or abandoned temples. Her little sister had truly loved her passion, even if that was what had led her to her demise.

Even as she managed to make out some story about the spirits of old, from the time of the Twin Goddesses and the world bellow, and one chosen to wield to four elements of nature, the Dark Elf couldn't help but remember Tilnel with nostalgia, thinking of how much she would have enjoyed introducing her to Kirito, and of how lucky it was that she had been married already or she would probably have also fallen for her dear hus…

Instincts from a lifetime as an Elf Warrior screamed on her mind just as she was looking over the symbol of a pointed-down-arrow, her scimitar already out of her sheath even as she finished turning around and saw the air twist and 'bleed' in a sinisterly familiar way.

An abomination that she could barely describe bleed out of the hole in reality, an unholy mess that seemed like someone had tried to twist a horse and a man in a broken blender and had gotten a horror of nature instead of a centaur, bones and skins in most of its body and long strands of hair coming from a head that managed to terrifically retain enough of horse and man at the same time to seem even more nightmarish.

Most horrifying wasn't its shape or its size, easily as big as one of the average 'Bosses' (Or guardians as her people called them) of Aincrad, but that, despite how its grotesque form should have made it impossible, the abomination stood up in a very human-like fashion, the 0s and 1s bleeding over it seemingly gaining consistency as it raised his hands and a _massive_ yet impossibly beautiful two-handed sword appeared on its grip, held before his face like only a true warrior would do instead of the abomination it clearly was.

Even as she stared at the blade with a mix of mesmerized fascination and terror, Kizmel was keenly aware of words appearing atop its head, the creature that clearly shared an origin with the one that had almost killed Leafa yesterday looking straight towards her as they did.

 _'Ludwig the A$% &()?'._

 **"Cardinal. Return. Rouge7NPC…Unit-89#…damage8tocore0subroutines…"** madly chanted the creature as it took a step forward, as if finally deciding on a course of action. **"…D3LEt3."**

Then, it shot forward with unnatural grace, showing speed and flexibility that shouldn't have been possible on a beast with such shape or size, the moonlight-filled blade coming down to crush Kizmel like a bug.

The Dark Elf rolled out of the way and over the sand with less than a second to spare, feeling both the wind and whatever unholy power filled the beautiful sword almost scorching her skin, getting back to her feet in the same motion and stabbing through the monster's side with her weapon.

'Ludwig' spun over himself/itself, twisting in the air as if he was doing a backflip, utter shock and disbelief consuming Kizmel as it/he still swung the blade while upside down, the massive blue/green glowing edge rushing towards her face faster than what it should be possible.

"No…not like this…" idly thought the Dark Elf as her sight was consumed by moonlight. "I still wanted to…live so many things with Kirito and every…"

CLANG!

The clashing of blades was so powerful and deafening that Kizmel was physically flown back, eyes wide in shock at seeing a long coat-clad girl with her feet buried on the sand as she held her Saw Cleaver with both hands to stop the oversized blade, the abomination wielding it roaring and falling down to the desert before quickly spinning back to his feet with an impossibly smooth motion.

"Kizmel, run!" screamed Strea as she barely managed to not stumble back, a panicked look in the Hunter's eyes as she looked at the paralyzed Dark Elf. "This one is too strong, even for me! Find hel…!"

And that was as far as the busty purplette managed to get before she was forced to dodge to the side, briefly turning to mist for an instant as the blade's edge grazed her by less than an inch…and violently forced her solid again, a scream escaping her as she spun in midair and sunk her own oversized weapon in the massive clawed hand that had almost crushed her.

There was nothing to stop the next strike from the massive blade, though, despite how awkward the angle it was coming from was, and she barely was able to move a couple steps to the side before the flat of it slammed against her and send her flying, her HP Bar plummeting all the way to the red…

 **"MHCP002. C0rru7pt. D3LEt3."** barked the abomination of corrupted data as it sneaked forward, ready to crush the gasping Strea.

Kizmel finally snapped out of her horror-induced shock at that, shaking her head and forcing herself to her feet in an instant, the fear of dying being pushed aside as she lashed out with her scimitar towards the rushing beast.

If she allowed the other girl to die after having just saved her life, she would never forgive herse…!

Her blade shattered. Somehow, once again defying her expectations of what it should be able to do with its shape and size, 'Ludwig' had managed to casually interpose his own sword on her scimitar's path, the tempered steel Liz had put so much care into making breaking like glass against the otherworldly weapon.

Even as she fell forward, out of balance, the Dark Elf saw how the beast sneered in a monstrously human way, ignoring her and dismissing her existence as if she wasn't even a threat, lunging forward again towards the now kneeling Strea, who was reaching into her coat for something.

 _"No."_

She wasn't able to save her sister. She wasn't there to protect her.

 _"Not this time. Not when I'm here."_

If he had been there, Kirito…her dear husband would have been able to save Strea. He would have found an impossible way to do so, either to slay the beast before them or to call forth luck that seemed blessed by the Goddesses that would aid them in defeating it.

 _"I won't sit back powerless as someone dies before me!"_

The four pillars keeping the wall of light that blocked the labyrinth's entrance up shone at the same time. The arrow-like symbol they all had on their bases seemed to burn.

Kizmel was vaguely aware of something burning on her forehead, of her eyes suddenly sharpening with power, before she shouted with all her might and slammed her hands on the sandy ground.

Meanwhile, Strea had reached on her revealing coat and retrieved something from a pouch just beside her breasts, the strange vial filled with crimson liquid being held tightly as she hesitated for a moment, as if unsure if she should use it, before quickly deciding that saving the life of one that Kirito loved was worthier than her remaining data-integrity…

And then _a torrent of water exploded from under the sand_ , slamming into Ludwig just before he reached her and throwing the shocked beast into the air as it flailed helplessly under the impromptu geyser.

The former MHCP was still staring with a gob-smacked expression before she became aware of Kizmel standing up, the Dark Elf roaring again as she gestured with her empty hands and what could only be described as a 'hammer' of hurricane winds crushed the monster against the sand, partially burying it under the wrath of the element.

With almost vicious satisfaction, the once-NPC, and now something much more, called forth sharp rocks to grow from under the desert, impaling Ludwig's body several times and leaving him 'trapped'…

For less than a moment, the wounded beast swinging his blade around and freeing himself, roaring madly with another declaration as it launched itself towards her.

 **"FURTHER/cor6ptI0n!** **D3LEt3!"**

Kizmel had just one thing to say in answer, even as she coiled back her fist just behind her body.

"Begone, foul beast."

Then, she lashed out, her palm opening as a torrent of fire shot from it, angrier than the breath of a dragon as it consumed the now screaming monster, his blade failing to protect his flesh from burning to death.

As the abomination shattered into polygons and corrupted data, only his massive sword remaining and falling down with violent force, the Dark Elf felt himself fall to her knees, utterly spent.

Almost as if in a dream, she almost felt as if the hands of her sister were hugging him, whispering how proud she was of her…and then it was Strea who was helping her to her feet, a worried look in the Hunter's eyes as she looked her up and down.

"Are you okay, Kizmel? Is your HP out of the danger zone?"

"A-ah, yeah…yes, it is, that abomination hit you more than it did me…" mumbled Kizmel as she shook her head. "I'm just glad you're safe."

"Likewise…but, uhm…did you know your eyes were glowing blue until a second ago? Also, you wouldn't know how you did all of that…or where you got that arrow-tattoo on your forehead from, right?"

Startled, the Dark Elf reached out towards her forehead, where the form of a blue arrow pointing down was now imprinted, even if she obviously was unable to see it at the moment.

"I…have no idea, honestly. I just suddenly…could feel the spirits of the earth all around me, I guess, and they were like singing and waiting for me to command them." muttered Kizmel as she let a weird smile appear on her face. "How funny…I grew up being one of the least interested on the stories about how our race could wield mighty magic in ages past, yet I end up being the one who gets the gift to do so once more…"

"Well…I'm personally happy about that." smiled the girl of lavender hair, holding the other's hands with tender care. "You just showed me that…even the likes of us can truly surpass our limits for something we care about, not only the humans. It makes me…happy, to know I'm not flawed for feeling like I am."

"The likes of us?" blinked the Dark Elf as Strea let go of her and walked away, staring towards the massive and otherworldly blade that was still impaled on the ground. "…Strea, are you perhaps not…?"

"KII-CHAN!" suddenly interrupted Argo, the worried scream making Kizmel turn to see her and Silica all but jumping off Pina as the dragon hurriedly flew towards her. "Are you okay?! What happened?! We heard some crazy sounds and then saw a massive pillar of fire coming from here so we turned back as we were about to reach our ruin and…!"

"Calm down, Argo. I'm okay." stopped the Dark Elf while reaching out and trapping the whiskered girl in a hug, startling her but making her smile as she hugged back. "One of those abominations, like the one from yesterday, tried to end me, but thanks to Strea's intervention and a miracle the spirits granted me, we defeated it."

"A miracle of the spi…? Wait, Strea? What is she doing here in the first…? Holy whiskers!" shouted the Info Broker upon catching sight of the busty girl standing before the otherworldly blade.

"…that's one big sword." commented Silica with no little awe, moving closer to Strea just to stare at its mesmerizing light closer. "Was…was the thing you fought actually wielding it?"

"Yep." nonchalantly replied the Hunter…before reaching out to touch the moonlight-filled edge. "He was…"

None of the other girls had time to voice out a warning against touching the massive sword, for the instant her hands touched it, the otherworldly blade seemed to shrink upon itself and lose all of its light, until the corrupted and 'secretly' in love AI was now holding an imposing, if old-looking, greatsword, its silver-gray edge seeming to perfectly reflect the girl's face as she raised it before her face.

"How…?" started to ask the youngest female present, only to fall silent as Strea once again did something outrageous, putting the sword's edge horizontal to her body and moving her palm over its entire length.

Like a spell vanishing or a curtain being removed, the blade's edge doubled in width and recovered its moonlight glow, now seeming like a perfect-sized (For humans) version of the weapon Ludwig had been wielding.

"What…what weapon is that?" asked Argo with just a hint of shock.

"My guiding moonlight…" was all that the busty purplette offered in answer before returning the sword to 'normal' and hanging it on her back, across her reliable Saw Cleaver. "Nee, Kizmel, you don't mind if I keep this thing, right? I mean, I know you lost your scimitar, but…"

"…heh, be my guest, Strea, is the least you deserve after saving my life, and I'm sure that suits you much better than me. I will just get Liz to forge another sword for me once we're back." Kindly accepted the Dark Elf despite the disbelieving look Argo was giving her, as if giving such a majestic-looking weapon away for free was akin to sacrilege. "Talking about her, though, I wonder how it is going for the others to find those keys…"

It was, in fact, going quite well for them, if anyone was wondering. In fact, Lux and Sachi were already halfway back to their ruin's entrance, already having the key needed to unlock the path to the labyrinth.

Asuna and Lisbeth, however…had stopped on the depths of their own, staring in confused shock at the strange mural behind where they key had rested, a circle split into 12 parts that showed very familiar symbols for anyone that regularly checked their horoscope.

And under it, a Quest Prompt seemed ready to tempt them, one of them especially, with a mighty challenge…

 _'Do you wish to forge an armor of Legend?'_

* * *

Zordiath the Blade Dragon was a mighty beast. It was also the Area Boss of the Hollow Area's second zone, the Floating Rock Area. With the tip of its four wings, the claws of its strong legs and the end of its tail being sharper than the mightiest human sword, there was little doubt that it was a fearsome monster more than fitting for its role.

Its limited AI hadn't been ready for players somehow bypassing all the monsters, seals, puzzles, and even the path itself to the top of its tower by, somehow, having one of them fly them up there one by one, though. Spawning while missing all of its activation flags had left it more than confused, never mind the extra stress to the already damaged Cardinal.

Having to deal with an enemy that apparently ignored most of the attack patterns it had been programmed to adapt to had, apparently, been too much.

So, when Leafa's flying attacks had easily lowered its HP to its last bar…it had apparently reached a _'Fuck it!'_ -protocol and it had flown away from the tower, seeking to escape its unexpected destruction, much to the shock of the blonde in the mechanical armor.

Though not as much as the other 5 fighters, because they had just been in the middle of an amazing battle-strategy that consisted on climbing onto said dragon and stabbing it as hard as they could while the one who could fly kept it pressured. Therefore…

"We're all gonna die!"

"Shut up, Coper, we're not!"

"Less talking and more holding, Mater! Shi-shit, I'm slipping!"

"Lind, I won't tell you to NOT use your sword as a support, but did you forget that if this thing dies we do so too?!"

"All of you, shut the hell up!" shouted an annoyed Philia towards the panicking Hollows, before turning back with a look of panic on her own towards the figure barely hanging from the dragon's tail, trying to reach out towards him with her hand. "Kirito, hang in there, I got you!"

"Do-don't worry Philia…" weakly smiled the black-haired boy, as if there wasn't deadly spade-tip almost as big as himself just a few meters behind him, nor a fall almost comparable to the distance between an Aincrad Floor and the next under them. "I'm just fine…"

Of course, the lie wasn't as convincing as it would have been under normal circumstances, but the fact of the matter was that Kirito _had_ been fine at first, in fact being the one with one of the firmest grips on Zordiath's screaming form as it shot from the tower and into the free sky of the Floating Rock Area.

Sadly for him, the unexpected apparition of certain Notifications only he could see had caught him off-guard and he had let go in surprise for an instant, which had made him roll over most of the dragon's armored back and end up where he was, barely hanging on at probably one of the worst spots of its body to do so (And given that Hollow Coper was hanging from one of its legs, that was saying something).

Still, regarding the unexpected Notifications…

 **[Special Event 'Avatar: The Legend of Kizmel' has been cleared! 'Forest Passion' Skill can now be freely activated!]**

 **[Forest Passion] (Active skill/Max Heroine Skill): Grants you the ability to subtly ignore moral conventions in a way that isn't seen as punishment-worthy, letting you catch girls off-guard with ease! (Especially useful against older/more experienced females)**

 **[Congratulations! You and Heroine Kizmel are now Perfectly Synchronized! Your Bond is so strong you will be able to tell what the other wants without even thinking!]**

Well, it seemed that something had happened to Kizmel, but, whatever it was, his dear Dark Elf was fine. Also, it looked like these 'Max Route Events' could take place even if he wasn't present; they just required him to trigger them in the first place. All of it very good to know, if he managed to survive his current crazy situation.

Seriously, giving the middle finger to the game's rules and had his little sister fly them all up the tower to skip the obvious and probably very roundabout dungeon inside had seemed like a good idea at the time, especially as Philia explained to him about the seemingly mad ramblings she had managed to extract from her new 'followers', about how this so-called 'Witch King' (He had to stop himself from cringing every time he heard that) apparently wanted both her Ring and to get to the deepest part of the Hollow Area.

And, much to his (Not) surprise, none of them was apparently quite sure why he wanted such a thing, beyond how he had promised all the Hollows he had recruited that 'freedom' would be achieved should his goals be fulfilled. Also, obviously, none of them even knew WHO the self-proclaimed king actually was.

So yeah, trying to simply get ahead by taking advantage of one of his overpowered 'love interests' (As much as it still may embarrass him thinking of Sugu like that despite the growing mutual attraction) had seemed very fitting…how was he supposed to know it would 'bug' a dangerous Boss in such a crazy way just as they were atop it?!

Why couldn't his life be normal for once, dammit?! Seriously, was it too much to ask for one day inside this Death Game to not be crazier than the previous…?!

"KIRITO!"

"ONII-CHAN!"

…oh shit…he had let go of the tail while he rambled internally, hadn't he?

Yep, he had, and now he was falling to his death. For probably the umpteenth time since he entered SAO. Also, there came Leafa flying like a meteor straight for him, the sheer fear in her eyes making his heart hurt at realizing how much she would hurt if anything happened to him, as much as any of the other girls who loved him…and Zordiath had apparently thought that was a good moment to try and counterattack, its blade-like head slashing down to cut his adoptive sister in half mid-flight.

The rushing sound of a Beam Saber coming to life and slicing through the Blade Dragon's 'horn' as if it was made of hot butter was oddly satisfying, as it was the following scream as the blonde girl screamed with anger and stabbed into its neck despite the pleading shouts of its four 'passengers'…wait, four?

Where was…?

"Got you!" screamed Philia as she hugged the gamer mid-fall with clear relief, their eyes meeting as she looked surprisingly happy. "Thank God…I thought I would catch you in time…"

"Uhm…you're welcome, Philia?" sheepishly replied Kirito while wondering if the Ring-bearer was aware they were still falling to their deaths.

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

Of course, that's when a convenient flying creature happened to fly by them, Philia idly raising the hand where she wore the Ring in its direction while never looking away from the black-haired boy, who could have sworn he heard a thousand unsettling whispers coming from it as it shone and made the monster's eyes light up, the weirdly undead-looking monster turning around and roaring as it caught both of them on its back.

Deadpanning, the gamer was idly aware it looked 'surprisingly' like one of the Fellbeasts from Lord of the Rings as he and Philia held onto its back as it ascended.

"Good boy! Take us back to the others!" determinedly ordered the Lady of the Ring as if what she had just done was extremely normal, pointing straight to…"Wah! Is it trying to suicide-rush us?!"

"Philia-samaaaaaa! Out of the waaaaay!" screamed four voices as Zordiath fell towards them like some demented and oversized living arrow, the barely-alive Area Boss having apparently decided to simply sacrifice itself to kill as many of its enemies as it could once its last HP Bar had reached the red zone.

"No! Get back there, dammit! Onii-chan, Philia-san, get out of the way!" screamed Leafa as she tried to deploy her Machine Cannons to finish off the monster, though it was clear she wasn't good enough aiming in the air to risk it without accidentally shooting the Boss' impromptu passengers…

"Philia, can you keep this thing steady?" calmly asked Kirito while standing up on the Fellbeast's back, idly taking note of how the monster seemed more determined to obey the orange-haired girl than to protect its own life.

"Ye-yes…wait, what are you doing?!"

"Messing with an angry dragon mid-flight without any means to defy gravity myself…again. But yeah, that's just my life now."

And without waiting for an answer, the black-haired boy crouched down and jumped upwards, ignoring the cries of his name as he spun over himself to try and gain as much momentum as possible, his right hand shooting towards his menu with the speed only someone worthy of the Dual Blades Unique Skill (Probably the only 'OP' thing he had by himself beside his cloak) could reach.

Zordiath had barely started to turn its head towards the Player that had apparently decided to hurry up their own death…when a flash of silver and rushing polygons blinded it for a second, the effect almost seeming like an over-dramatic transformation sequence.

 **[Title Change!]**

"Begone, foul beast!" shouted the emerging silver-clad figure while swinging Elder Emperor in the most impossibly precise way possible, unknowingly saying the same line that Kizmel had just a few minutes before. "So speaks the Nameless Knight!"

Wide-eyed, all four Hollows saw first-hand as the armored warrior cut through the mouth and then through the _body_ of the Blade Dragon, its own momentum combined with the one-in-a-million angle of the swing making it all but bisect itself.

Awed, from above and below the sudden explosions of polygons, Leafa and Philia stared as the swing was finished, making the Nameless Knight almost shine majestically against the sunlight.

Praise the bullshit powers, as always. Now, if someone could just catch him before he plummeted to his death again…

"There!" squeaked the blonde 'angel' as she caught him, her hand closing around his own just as he had started falling again, even as down below the Ring-bearer caught her four falling followers with her new 'ride'. "Tha-that was amazing, Onii-chan, I didn't even think a move like that was possible outside of anime! A-also, that armor makes you look amazing!"

"Well, you know what they say, Sugu." chuckled the armored warrior with amusement upon seeing her adorably flushed face. "Reality surpasses fiction…even if it's virtual reality, in this case."

Looking at him as her Fellbeast ascended to join the siblings and the four Hollows who had sworn to follow her till the end scrambled to keep holding onto the clearly overweighed monster, Philia couldn't help but agree.

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Kotone!]**

 **[You gained 10 Affection Points with Heroine Suguha!]**

Unseen to them, though, a certain sinister figure with an even more sinister helmet watched in amusement from atop the nearby 'tower', playing with the edge of his butcher knife.

Another Area Boss down, another step closer to freedom.

Let Kirito play with his weirdly overpowered bitches as much as he wanted, because he would be the one _laughing_ at the end of…!

"Bo-boss, quick! Some weird countdown started as soon as the dragon died, we need to get out of here!"

…son of a bi…!

Suffice to say, when Kirito (Once again out of his fancy armor) and the rest saw the tower explode and collapse upon itself after landing, the black-haired boy idly muttering something about random self-destruction mechanisms, they all simply shrugged and headed back to the control room.

It had been enough madness for one day for them.

* * *

Once they appeared back in Arc Sophia, Kirito and Leafa looked more than a bit exhausted, even if Yui looked as happy and hyperactive as ever.

"…and after I got rid of the weird screens I managed to play _Pac-Man_ on the console too! It was super-fun!"

"That's all great, Yui…I'm glad you had fun." sighed the black-haired boy with resignation, wondering why he had hoped the empty-headed AI would find anything useful.

…even if she apparently was still able to 'hack' consoles without realizing it, because none of them had been able to find said retro-minigames once she had closed them and said she was ready to go back upon their return.

Talking about that, he still wasn't sure how Philia had teleported her new ride with them into the Control Room (Did she have to call the thing 'Mochi', though? Couldn't she have thought of a more…menacing name?), but she had, and it was now serving as an impromptu bed for her and her 'servants'…even if they weren't all that eager to get close to the sinister-looking dragon-like monster.

"I'm glad you had fun too, Yui-chan, but we're a bit tired now…" added the blonde girl while happily ruffling the little AI's hair, making her giggle happily at the gesture. "How about we go back to the Inn for now?"

"Heheh, okay, Leafa-mama!" acquiesced the black-haired 'child' with a happy smile, before blinking in confusion and tilting her head to the side. "Wait…are you hearing singing too?"

"Uh?" blinked both teens in confusion before realizing that, effectively, a beautiful singing voice seemed to be coming from just beyond the Teleport Plaza, in the direction where the Inn at which Unison Hearts stayed was.

"Wait…I know that singing…Yuuna?" questioned Kirito before walking towards the music at a brisk pace, followed by an equally curious Leafa.

Just as she was about to follow them, though, Yui stopped upon recalling something she was supposed to tell her dear papa. Something that had appeared on the console's screen after she cleared her short run of Pac-man, a message about the corruption reaching its breaking point soon and needing a conduit to bleed as much as it could outside of the core systems, followed by an ominous declaration…

"The Old One shall be born from the Hunter's corpse at the top of the Floating Castle…" recalled the former MHCP-001…before shrugging, not really understanding what any of that meant "Oh well, it's probably not important…Yuuna-mama singing is, though!"

At that moment, the duo freshly out of the Hollow Area had arrived at the street leading to the Inn they stayed at, finding it packed to the brink with players that were cheering of clapping.

The source of it all was obvious, though, as Yuna was standing proudly atop an improvised 'stage' made out of wooden boxes, her lute at hand as she sang beautifully. Around her, the rest of Fuurinkazan (Who were most likely the ones that had assembled the stage) were following along with what looked like war drums, Klein and Nautilus actually managing to follow the songstress voice almost perfectly.

"You missed most of the show, Kirito-kun, Leafa-chan." chuckled Asuna while walking to the pair's side with a smile, nonchalantly giving the boy a quick kiss on the cheek and turning to look at the spectacle. "It's nice isn't it?"

"Yeah…you bet it is." smiled the black-haired boy while looking past the chestnut-haired girl and seeing the rest of his guildmates/'wives' around the street, cheering for the 'idol' with clear enthusiasm (Even Pina was half-hanging from a rooftop just to have a first-row-seat!). "What brought this up, though?"

"It seems Yuna-chan wanted to surprise everyone and do something to cheer up the Front Liners and everyone else that came to Floor 76 and got stuck, be it voluntarily or by mistake." explained the rapier-user while giving an amused look at how awed Leafa seemed by the spectacle. "It caught us by surprise when we came back from a quick scout of the latest Floor earlier, but it's truly a beautiful gesture from her part, don't you think?"

Nodding softly in agreement, letting the sound of Yuna's song relax his tired mind, the gamer stared at the smiling and eager players, those he knew one way or another and those that he barely knew at all, and reminded himself that they were extremely close to finally achieving their dreamed freedom.

His gaze moving back to the songstress on stage, he felt a gentle warmth on his heart at seeing her dedicated smile as she poured her heart into the song. At his sides, he realized with a chuckle that Asuna and Leafa had started softly singing along. Letting his eyes roam once again over the girls he was most familiar with, he saw with surprise that Strea and Kizmel were sitting together as they clapped in rhythm with the song…huh, did Strea buy another weapon? She had a greatsword strapped on her back across her bizarre cleaver-like thing (And was it his imagination or were Lux and Sinon looking at it with awe/shock, respectively?). Also, when had Kizmel gotten a tattoo on her forehead?

Looking even further, he saw Lisbeth seemed to be barely paying attention to the song, even if her head was moving along with it, engrossed in what looked like some ancient scroll as her eyes shone with glee, Sachi and Argo alternating from looking at the stage to peeking over her shoulders at it.

Silica, on the other hand, seemed to be in full fangirl mode, seated atop her dragon friend as she waved two glow sticks (Where had she even gotten those in here?!) and cheered for the songstress to continue singing. Oh, and there was a girl with long gray-brown hair in a maid outfit eagerly taking notes while looking at Yuuna hiding under Pina's shadow, for some reason.

All in all, a crazy panorama…but also a very normal one for his current life. And as he was learning to accept lately, one that he wouldn't change for anything in the world.

With that thought in mind, Kirito once again returned his attention fully towards the stage, starting to hum along with a line of the song going about 'catching the moment', his eyes meeting with Yuna's for a moment and giving her a bright smile. Mirroring it, the songstress sang on, letting her emotions pour with every note…

Later on, the day more than over already, Leafa walked down the inn's second floor clad in only her pajamas, barely paying attention to how she was barefoot in favor of how nervous she was.

I-it shouldn't be a problem to just ask t-to sleep next to Kirito that night, right? I-it had been a long time since they did that, a-and they had kissed…and she was technically his 'wife' now too! The-there was no reason to feel nervous, o-or to think about…other things, no matter how much he had apparently started to do so with the rest…

Pumping herself up with that line of thought, the blonde girl adopted a confident look and, without hesitation, opened the door for the boy's room.

"Onii-chan, can I sl…?"

Anything else she may have wanted to say died on her lips, because the frozen fairy found herself staring at her adopted brother in the middle of kissing a fiercely blushing Yuna, who squeaked and covered herself (Despite still being fully clad in her pajamas) as soon as she realized she had entered, the gamer also stopping and giving his adopted sister a sheepish and blushing look.

"Le-Leafa…you should knock before entering someone else's room, you know?"

"…Imsorryforgivemyintrustion!" half-shouting with a burning face, Leafa spun around and ran back to her room.

She would take quite a lot of time before getting any 'peaceful' sleep that night…

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Who even cares about Gameplay Mechanics in an Eroge?

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Poor Sugu…but don't worry, your turn will come! In time XP!

This chapter let us see ever-increasing madness, as always, and also showing how Kirito keeps coming to terms with how his life is going to be from now on…get ready boy, because this is literally just the beginning XD

On today's quite-specific madness, Ludwig and his Holy Moonlight Sword are, like Strea's whole shtick here, from the PS4 Bloodborne. Because he's creepy as all hell but I love how epic that blade of his is :) Also, Kizmel literally became the Avatar, yup. Because why not?

For those of you interested, all four of Philia's Hollow 'servants' are actual SAO characters from one or another part of the official SAO Multiverse: Coper is a minor character of Canon that only appears in 'The First Day' sidestory (And his real-self already showed up briefly in chapter 1 of this fic!), Lind is a major secondary character of SAO Progressive, and Koharu and Mater are from the phone game SAO Integral Factor. None of them will have 'big' roles in this story, but they're funny plot-devices for, essentially, murdering/rushing the Hollow Area's storyline in a fun way, as those of you that played Hollow Fragment may have already noticed, and that will continue coming up in the upcoming chapters :D

Also, Yui accidentally dropped some foreshadowing there as for why I'm making Kirito's waifus so whacky. The end of Aincrad is going to be quite messy in several ways…

Okay then, with that said, I think it's about time to wrap this up! Only, as a small hint for next chapter, especially for those that may have already seen it coming after that small scene and what her and Liz found: What's Asuna's zodiac symbol OwO?

Let's hope I can keep up this pace for Lusus Naturae's next chapter! I will see you all there soon!

Until then, this is Saint, signing off!


	14. Scene 13: Who cares about gameplay?

Hello again everyone, back with my wackiest story to date! And we surpassed the 900 reviews' mark with the previous chapter, you guys are awesome!

Apologies again for the big delay for this latest update. You can read the details as to why, if you care, in 'One Punch Gamer: Chains of Fate' latest chapter's pre-chapter author notes, but if you don't, then just know I will do my best so it doesn't happen again XP

With that said, ready for some more special craziness and eroge shenanigans? Hopefully! Have fun with this madness!

As always, help filling this fic's TvTropes is appreciated. Now, enjoy!

 **PS:** This chapter was betaed by my good friend Pikatwins! Thanks as always, pal!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 13: Who even cares about Gameplay Mechanics in an Eroge?**

 **November 18th, 2024. Aincrad, Floor 79. Fields near the Labyrinth, 13:35…**

As the members of Unison Heart stepped out of the cave systems that had made-up most of the current Floor, it was quite evident one of their members was in an especially chirpy mood.

Then again, given that Yuna was practically skipping ahead, whistling a happy tune and playing her songs with a face-splitting smile and her eyes closed for basically the whole morning, this wasn't really hard to notice.

One mob that seemed like some sort of armored monkey jumped out of some bushes just outside the cave, aiming to surprise any players just coming out. Yuna just casually slammed her lute against its head, Stunning it and making it walk drunkenly past her, never stopping her humming even as a casual jet of fire from Kizmel's hands vaporized the creature.

"Heh, someone is quite cheerful this morning." observed the Dark Elf as if she hadn't done anything weird at all, even as several of the group deadpanned from her to the vibrant songstress. "Had a good night, Yuna?"

"A most wonderful one, Kizmel-chan, thanks a lot for asking!" replied the girl while turning around with a radiant face. "And this day is going even better, don't you think? We tore through the Floor in no time at all despite the latest Boss Fight having been earlier this morning! Look, we can see the Labyrinth there already!"

"Yeah, well, the fact that Kii-chan can now 'feel nature' or something like that and could tell exactly where we had to go through that damn cave-maze helped out a lot. Never mind that she can also blast everything on sight with elements faster than most of us can even react." commented Argo with a resigned smile, though her thoughts weren't very centered on such things. _"Wonder if wanting 'a repeat' before everyone has had a 'turn' would be too greedy of me…?"_

"We surely went through here in a breeze, yeah, but we should still be careful." spoke Kirito while walking past the group, his Stats doing an amazing job of not reacting to the way in which Yuna's eyes all but glittered as he walked past her. "After all, we never know when something unexpected may try to take us by sur…"

An oversized bird with shining wings chose that moment to spawn just before the talking boy, 3 HP Bars filling over it as it screeched and charged. Almost nonchalantly, Kirito batted its beak aside with a Martial Arts Skill by instinct…then immediately felt bad for the mini-Boss as it was received by a 'hammer' of wind slamming it down, then a rain of bullets and several sword-arrows turning the creature into virtual mincemeat, Asuna unleashing a 'Linear' to finish it off. Blinking, the girls stared at each other, as if they had just done that without even realizing, Sinon going so far as to awkwardly dismiss her weapon as she coughed and looked to the side, trying to keep pretending she was just 'following them around for her own convenience'.

"Kirito-san, you should heed your own words." commented Silica from where she sat on Pina's back, scratching her partner's feathers.

"Yeaaaah…sorry about that." replied the gamer with a small sigh even as he looked back at the still unaffected Yuna walking past him again, shooting him a fleeting and blushing smile before hurrying forward again as she broke into another song with her lute.

A smile of his own appearing on his face, his eyes moved slightly to the 'Notifications' of this morning, that he hadn't really bothered to put away yet.

 **[CONGRATULATIONS! You have maxed Heroine Yuuna's Route!]**

 **[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Loving Chant' has been Unlocked!]**

 **[A Special Event has been triggered!]**

 **['Songstress of Passion' was added to the gallery!]**

Idly, a part of him was keenly aware of how his so-called 'Gallery' was filling up with 'NSFW' images…but then again, it wasn't as if anyone else was ever gonna see it, so the thought was quickly discarded in favor of strategies for the upcoming Boss Fight, and the hypothetical scenarios to try and make it go as smooth as possible.

Kizmel's new 'elemental powers' (And he had to resist very hard the urge to scream about the unfairness of everyone getting something 'amazing' but him yet again that morning) were something they probably didn't want one-shooting the Floor Boss, for the same reasons they couldn't just have Leafa do it every time, but perhaps there were some workarounds for that? Maybe having her set someone's weapon on fire from a distance just as a Sword Skill was connecting or something along those lines…?

"Hey, Onii-chan…do you think it was okay to not go to the Hollow Area today?" asked the blonde 'angel' of the group while floating slightly about them, almost seeming glad that she could open her wings once again (Even if she could have flown past the entire Floor alone if she had wanted to and only entered the caves for them).

Kirito wondered if it was good or bad that he could easily tell she was still a bit flustered for having run into him and Yuna kissing last night. His damn powers and stupidly high Stats could be as much of a 'curse' as they were a 'blessing. After all, he was pretty sure that, a few years back, the thought of his 'little sister' having seen him before having some, ahem, 'private time' with his girlfriend would have been extremely awkward.

However, in that hypothetical past-thought-projection, he probably didn't have reality-bending Dating Sim powers, several girlfriends, his little sister/cousin having developed feelings for him, or he also developing feelings for her like he had previously done with the aforementioned girls, who he had kinda-married…

Okay, yes, his life was a total mess in the eyes of any 'normal' person, even if he found himself happy despite all the headaches everything seemed insistent on giving him. So, with that in mind, he gave Leafa a reassuring (if mischievous) smile that he would have never been able to do just 2 years ago, delighting in the way she blushed as he did so, before finally answering her question.

"Don't worry Leafa, it's fine. If you remember, we got Philia to promise us she wouldn't go out on her own, and even her new 'friends' seemed reluctant to go out with her after I told them I would be coming back periodically. I'm sure they're all having fun one way or another right now."

At that moment, within the Hollow Area's command room, a group of 5 people and some sort of pale dragon-like thing were gathered in a circle…playing cards?

"…do you have a 5, Mater?"

"No…do you have an Ace, Koharu?"

"Nope! Also, on that note, what exactly are we playing again?"

"I…actually don't remember. Coper?"

"Why are you looking at me?! Just because I'm the Hollow of a Beta Tester doesn't mean I know everything!"

"What I'm more interested to know is…why was there a deck of Western cards among the drops of yesterday's Boss?"

"That's…a good question, Philia-sama."

"Yeah…what do you think, Mochi?"

"Raaaah…"

"…dammit, he just won again! How is this monster better at us at playing a game WE barely understand ?!"

Back before Floor 79's labyrinth, even as Argo sent a message and the map data they had all gathered to Diavel before debating if it was worth sacrificing one of the many Corridor Crystals that had dropped in the Hollow Area now or not, a small 'council' took place even as Kirito walked to the entrance to make sure no unexpected trap was waiting for them.

"Well…seems Yuna had a _very_ good night yesterday." mumbled Lisbeth with a small pout as she looked at the songstress still happily singing her worries away, a couple of small and harmless bird-like mobs even sitting on her hat as she did so.

"Heheh, seems like it." chuckled Lux with a blush on her face, before adopting a thoughtful expression. "Say…does this mean it's actually just up to who gets the most courage instead of order of arrival?"

"Wha-what do you mean by that?!" asked Silica with a high-pitched voice, fidgeting while her face burned.

"I mean, I technically joined our 'family' before Yuna officially did…sure, it was just for like an hour or so, but Sachi was way earlier than any of us too, so shouldn't that mean she should have slept with Kirito fi…?"

"Why are you having this conversation in front of us?!" heatedly demanded Sinon with an annoyed look and crimson-tinted cheeks, vaguely pointing back in the girls' direction as she tried to contain her twitching eyes. "Do it when we can't hear you, dammit! Can you believe them?!"

"…I was with Onii-chan before any of them, though, e-even if back then we technically weren't …uguuu…"

"…why did I thought I would find help there?" questioned the Archer to no one upon seeing Leafa's reaction, walking away while mumbling about how everyone around her was hopeless.

"…you know, it's almost cute how she keeps acting as if we were forcing her to be around or something." sighed Lisbeth while turning to look back at Lux. "As for that…can we please change the subject? I…I don't know if I'm ready to talk about…that…so openly…"

"Ye-yeah, d-do it for Li-Liz-san's sa-sake, Lu-Lux-san!"

"…Silica, don't try to pretend when just thinking about it made you stutter your tongue out." chuckled the blacksmith before ignoring the younger girl's quick annoyed denial and opening her menu and looking eagerly at something. "Well, talking about something else, I'm glad of all the things we found on this Floor! I'm a step closer to completing that Quest!"

"Oh, you mean that rare Quest you and Asuna found at the last Floor right?" asked Sachi with a smile as she neared the trio, ignorant of what they had just been talking about. "Do you really think you can figure it out?"

"Of course I can! I'm not the blacksmith of SAO's Best Guild for nothing, right? I AM going to forge this so-called 'Legendary Armor'!" boasted Lisbeth before bringing out the strange Key Item she and their chestnut-haired friend had found yesterday in one of the previous floor's 'ruins'. "Once I have all the other materials, I will figure out what this thing exactly does."

Almost curiously, the other girls looked at the small circular tablet in the pink-haired girl's hands, which was divided into 12 sections and had small symbols on it. Then again, recognizing them was much easier than understanding whatever its use to 'forge a legendary armor' was.

"I don't get it, though…what do the Western Zodiac Symbols have to do with blacksmithing?" wondered Silica with honest curiosity.

"Maybe you need to divine someone's horoscope to uncover this Quest's last part?" ventured Lux while touching upon the part of the tablet representing Aries, her own sign given her birthdate.

"No idea, really, the Quest just says that I will need the guidance of the stars when the time to forge it comes. Also some weirdness about the blood of a warrior and finding the cosmos for the one that will wear it…I really hate when they're cryptic like that and you have to figure out the rest." sighed Lisbeth before putting it away, quickly letting a smile reappear on her face again. "But be that as it may, I'm going to solve it and forget that thing! After all, any edge is always good, no matter how many weird powers some of us get…"

"…Liz, Night Kitty doesn't like you calling it weird." politely pointed out Sachi with a small frown, making the blacksmith sweatdrop nervously as she looked at the empty air behind her.

"O-oh yeah, sorry about that, you…"

"Hey everyone, we're going back already!" called out Asuna while waving her hand, a smile on her face as they all turned to see Kirito and Argo exchanging some Teleport Crystals and then handing them out to the rest. "Let's celebrate this extra-fast arrival with a small feast when we get back, okay?"

 _"…it's so unfair she's so good at Cooking, but I still want to eat her food…"_ were the thoughts of almost every girl present as they nodded and smiled. Less than a minute later, all of Unison Hearts was gone, teleported back to the Floor's main city, after which they would head back down to Arc Sophia.

The same moment they had vanished, Strea stepped out of her hiding place behind a conveniently positioned rock, arms crossed under her bust (With only the Ethics Code preventing it from popping out of her coat at the motion) and a thoughtful look as she stared up at the labyrinth.

"They really are tearing through the game, huh? At this rate, unless something goes really bad, they could actually reach Floor 100 before the year ends…question is, will Cardinal allow that, as corrupted as it may now be? Kuuuh…thinking like this really tires me…" mumbled the virtual girl while putting a hand under her chin and sighing, before adjusting her hat and nodding to herself. "Well, no matter. Whatever happens, I have to be there to deal with it! Now, gotta get back to keep an eye on Kiri…in Yui-nee, that is! Can't let whatever is inside of her cause a catastrophe …and in Kirito too."

Whispering the last bit to herself with a happy blush and a smile, the former MHCP-002 used a crystal on her own to return to Arc Sophia, giggling softly at some of the thoughts she was having.

If she had stayed a bit longer, though, she may have seen the distortions of corrupted data that started 'bleeding' around the labyrinth's door a few seconds later, warping virtual reality into something darker and sinister…

* * *

One of the many advantages of how fast they were clearing the Floors now, besides the obvious quickening of their return home, was, without a doubt, that they could have more 'free time' without it impacting their chances of surviving. For this, Kirito was very grateful.

Sure, some may think that taking a stroll through Arc Sophia and enjoying the breeze and the view of players going around doing their own things while he could be hurrying the Clearing efforts even more, being one of the strongest Players in the entire game (Not counting those with, ehem, 'crazy bullshit' on them, aka his dear girls). However, Diavel was right now organizing a group to explore the labyrinth and maybe even the Boss for the next day, and Philia no doubt still would be exhausted after the crazy madness of the Area Boss yesterday, so it was better not to try and rush things, as it could be as bad, or worse, than delaying them too much.

Besides, all the girls miraculously had something to do, which meant he was all alone for once! Some me-time would no doubt make him some good, after all.

And with that cheerful idea in mind, Kirito stopped in the middle of the street, looking around with a smile.

He stood there for several seconds, still with that carefree smile, before arriving at a single, kinda-saddening, realization.

 _"…when did I become unable to think of fun things to do that didn't involve the girls?"_

Mentally cursing, the black-haired boy continued on his way, checking his menu (Both the normal SAO one and the one that came from his Powers) while trying to decide if he maybe should just go grind some mobs or go back to the Inn…when his gaze looked down a small side-street and blinked upon noticing something, or more like _someone_ familiar entering a certain small building.

"Wait, was that Silica?" confused, the gamer made his way towards the modest-looking building, seeing a slightly opaque window and a sign atop a homely-looking door. "Is this some sort of restaurant? What's she doing here?…oh well, I was feeling hungry anyway, so…"

Nodding to himself, Kirito decided to satisfy his curiosity and entered the café…coming face-to-face with something he wasn't expecting.

"Welcome, master! How can I help…? WAAH!" in the middle of her 'greeting', the girl of long brown-gray hair _dressed as a maid_ stumbled back, looking panicked and blushing slightly. "Kirito-kun?!"

"…do I know you?" asked the boy with a raised eyebrow, before looking around and seeing the several other female figures, all of them NPCs as far as he could see, in the traditional servant attire, a few male players sitting around and goofily enjoying being served. "…why the fuck is there a maid café here? Seriously, Kayaba, WHY?!"

"E-ehm…we-well, there is no one in Aincrad that doesn't know the leader of Unison Hearts and the legendary Nameless Knight, after all! I-I'm just a random unimportant player doing a quest for experience, nothing more!" quickly improvised the girl while half-hiding her face behind the tray she had been carrying. "S-still, why are you here?! U-unless…you…ca-came for m…"

"Oh, Kirito-san! Did you follow me here?"

Turning around to see Silica sitting near a wall and waving at him with a carefree smile, a strawberry cake before her, the gamer allowed himself to release a mental sigh of relief. For a moment, he had the crazy idea that she was also working as a maid there and the thought of any of the guys there drooling at her dressed in that attire made him want to hurt something very badly.

…he _really_ was getting quite messed up, wasn't he? Gods, he hoped they wouldn't force him to a psychologist when he got out of there…

"Not exactly, Silica, but I will be right there." Waving back, Kirito gave the blinking girl a brief smile. "Sorry for startling you, I will be over there with her. Have a good day!"

"A-ah…yeah, likewise…" mumbled the maid with a weird mix of relief and disappointment, before shaking her head and heading back to the kitchen to fetch her next order.

"Here, you can have some of my cake! It's the best!" chuckled the twin-tailed girl with a smile as her boyfriend/'husband' sat down at her side. "So, how did you find me?"

"Would you believe it was a coincidence? I was taking a stroll through the street and saw you entering…gonna take a guess and say that you love this place's cake?" ventured the black-haired boy with a small grin.

"Yup! Stumbled upon this place one day while practicing jumping off Pina's back into the back of unsuspecting enemies to cut open their necks (She's on the roof sunbathing a bit, by the way)! I slipped off the adjacent roof and ended up here…" blushingly revealed Silica while scratching her cheek. "Though the maids certainly surprised me! I know they're all NPCs except the nice girl always taking notes and asking me things about our guild (What was her name again? Rani?), but still, I don't think I could ever wear something so embarrassing!"

Deadpanning slightly, the gamer gave the young girl a quick look, noticing specifically how revealing her Kirin 'armor' was, leaving a lot of her petite body exposed. And, as always, the casual remarks about ways to casually inflict horrible murder on things.

Right…he probably wasn't the only one that may be forced to visit special help when they made it out of SAO, but honestly, that didn't really bother him at all. After all, he loved the girls just as they were, and wouldn't change their own quirks for anything in the world.

With that said, though, and even if his 'options' had stopped showing as usually as they used to do, he still quite knew quite well what to say to fluster one of his 'wives' easily.

"Really? Too bad, I think you would look really cute in one of those outfits." smoothly joked Kirito with a teasing smile, making Silica's eyes widen in surprise. "I would have loved to see you dressed as a ma…"

"Wait here for a minute!" all but screamed the twin-tailed girl before all but parkouring through the tables and towards the kitchen, leaving behind a blinking boy staring after her in disbelief before turning back to look at the half-eaten cake.

 _"No…I mean, I know I just said it, but there is really no way Silica is just going to…"_

"Sorry to keep you wa-waiting, Ki-Kirito-sama! Ca-can I get your order…?"

Turning around once again, the gamer was once again thankful that his stupidly high Dating Stats prevented him from overreacting like some cliché Harem Protagonist. As it was, he only blushed profusely as he gazed upon Silica shyly playing with the hem of her maid uniform's skirt, her cheeks having a healthy amount of red as she looked down while sending some 'discreet' glances up at him every two seconds or so.

As mentioned before, the young girl was a bit of a weirdo, yet he loved her anyway. At the same time, there was no denying she was extremely cute in the most adorable ways, and dressed and acting like that, without her usual Monster Hunter-patented armor and without her usual slightly-disturbing smile to start killing any enemy on her way, that cuteness was amplified to almost diabetes-inducing levels. If he was a weaker man, Kirito probably would have been unable to resist the urge to trap her in a hug and give her headpats, regardless of how much that would probably have offended her.

Luckily, he was 'The Protagonist', going by his powers, and as such he was able to contain those silly impulses, instead giving her an honest smile and holding her hand between both of his, making the Beast Tamer squeak adorably as she looked alarmed at him.

"Just looking at you dressed like this is already better than anything I could have ordered, Silica. Really."

 **[You gained 20 Affection Points with Heroine Keiko!]**

"…Ki-Kirito-san…can I…?"

Ignoring the notification that had just popped up in favor of getting ahead of the young girl's wishes, Kirito opened his arms and let her jump in for a hug and a chaste but enthusiastic kiss. Moments like this felt good and reminded him why he was still fighting (Both against the death game and the threats to his sanity) to see tomorrow and he couldn't care less about the jealous stares the few clients around sent his way.

Near the counter, the only other actual human maid in the café was furiously taking down notes while looking at the couple, a small blush on her own face.

On the streets of Arc Sophia, everything was as normal as usual.

* * *

"So, once again, why did I agree to come with you to do this during our free time?" asked Asuna with a jokingly-annoyed tone, giving Lisbeth a sideways look as they ventured through one of the deeper parts of the cave system that formed Floor 79.

"Because you're as curious to find out what this 'legendary armor' business is about since we found the Quest as I am to actually forge the thing, don't deny it." shot back the pink-haired girl with a grin as they finally reached a particularly dark cave. "The fact that the new Quest marker popped up while we were buying things for dinner together may have also affected that, I believe."

"Heh, okay, that's fair." chuckled the rapier-user before looking to the cave, eyes slightly narrowed. "Now then, where can this 'chunk of a star' we're supposed to find be…?"

"…hey, Asuna…" started the blacksmith while purposefully looking away to hide her blush, pretending to be looking for the same Key Item they were supposed to find as she gathered her thoughts. "Ho-how is it?"

"Huh? What?" asked the chestnut-haired girl with a raised eyebrow, not even turning to face her friend as she kept searching behind a particularly rough-looking wall of stone.

"…ing with…to…"

"What? Liz, I couldn't hear you, you were speaking in whispers or some…"

"How is sleeping with Kirito like?!" finally shouted Lisbeth with a burning face, her voice echoing off the cavern's walls and making the question all the louder, a deep and embarrassing silence following it. "…maybe I shouldn't have screamed like that."

"Wha-wha….?! Why would you ask that out of the blue?!" demanded Asuna once her brain finally rebooted, clearly not having expected anything along those lines.

"Be-because…I'm both excited and scared at the idea and I don't know what to think because I'm a mess and even Lux seems more determined on it than I do and I feel as if I'm going to be left behind by even those younger than me just because…!"

"Woah, Liz, calm down, breathe!" quickly moving to grab her friend's shoulders, the rapier-user sweatdropped at how she suddenly stopped to gasp for air, the unneeded reflex probably kicking in after talking so long and so fast without any pause. "There, there, it's fine now…"

"So-sorry, I just…fuck, I can't believe I'm such a mess when you're so calm and collected. Hard to believe I'm older than you…"

"Just by a few months, so don't get cocky." snorting at the deadpan stare she got as answer for her 'joke', Asuna let a small smile appear on her face as she patted her back. "Listen, Liz…I know that things are 'changing' a bit lately, not only in the whole 'everything going crazier' or the bit where even more girls and even his not-little sister showing up…"

"Which doesn't seem as crazy in comparison, honestly." mumbled the pink-haired girl with a small pout."

"…but you know that Kirito-kun hasn't changed despite all of that. He still loves us, loves you, the same. And as weird as this entire situation may seem for anyone 'normal', I think I speak for everyone when I say we have all gotten used to it and wouldn't really change it for anything." softly continued the chestnut-haired girl while giving her friend an encouraging smile. "So really, don't feel pressured just because some of us are…'taking things to another level'. It's our decision, just like it's yours to take things at your own pace, and you know none of us are going to judge you for it."

"…man, no wonder Diavel asked for your help with organizing the mess the KoB became after Heathcliff's betrayal, you're really good with motivating people, did you know that?" laughing as she dusted off her skirt, Lisbeth gave her friend a grateful smile and a thumbs-up. "Okay then! With that awkwardness out of the way, let's get back to finding that legendary mate…!"

A piece of the wall Asuna had been looking through a minute before cracked and fell down at that exact moment, making both girls jump back and look in shock…even as a bright golden light illuminated their faces and most of the room.

Stunned, the rapier-user took a step forward even as she heard her friend gasping in utter awe. Being who she was, she had seen a few pieces of gold in jewelry and decorations before, so she could easily recognize it…

But the glowing chunk of gleaming 'metal' before them wasn't that, she was sure of it. It looked like gold, but it was a thousand times purer, somehow her eyes and instincts telling her that despite lacking any real knowledge to discern that. Also, it was shining with an otherworldly light, and its gleam somehow reminded Asuna of the stars filling the night sky she sometimes saw when she was a little girl and went to her grandparents' house out in the countryside.

Whatever this was…the chestnut-haired girl could almost feel it 'humming' with untold power…

"I have never seen such an amazing-looking ore…" whispered the blacksmith in an almost mesmerized tone as she walked past her friend and touched it. "…Fragment of Stars? Holy shit…I haven't seen anything this rare since I melted off Kirito's Knight Armor to reforge it back then…and this is even rarer! Hell, I have my Blacksmithing skill maxed and I can't properly appraise how rare this is…!"

"Wha-what does that mean?" questioned the rapier-user once she managed to break out of the trance from staring at the otherworldly ore.

"It means this thing may truly give out something 'legendary' in every way! C'mon, let's not waste any time!" literally bouncing with excitement, all of her earlier worries long-forgotten, Lisbeth quickly grabbed the ore, tearing off the beach ball-sized chunk of metal with one mighty pull. "Holy…! It feels hard as a diamond but it's as light as a feather! Man, I'm getting all sorts of jitters from this! Quick, Asuna, back to my shop! Let's forge ourselves an armor of myth!"

"A-ah, yeah!"

With that decision made, even as the pink-haired girl excitedly announced the Quest Marker had changed again, Asuna rushed after her friend, feeling a weird and bubbling excitement inside her.

At the same time…a Party led by Diavel was making their way through the Floor's Labyrinth, the blue-haired 'knight' frowning heavily as they made their way through the unusually silent hallways and stairs, keenly aware of something strange.

Or, more exactly, of the _lack_ of something.

"Why haven't we met a single mob yet?" asked a random member of the Knights of Blood what everyone was thinking about, the nervous mood amongst the group increasing as the ominous words were finally voiced out loud.

"I don't know, Lao, but I don't like it. Plus, there is this weird feeling as something just isn't right crawling up my back practically since we entered the damn Labyrinth…" commented the guild's de-facto new leader while stopping at a new set of stairs. "Hmmm…maybe we should just go back and rest for tonight just to be…?"

 **CRUNCH**.

 _Munchmunchmunch…_

"…boss?"

"…yes?"

"Are you also hearing the sound something massive moving as it chews on something just behind us?"

"…I really want to say no…but…"

As one, the members of the KoB turned around…and stared at the horror that had just turned a corner opposite to the hallway they had originally come from.

It was tall, only 'humanoid' in the vaguest of senses, with a short tail that grew like it would from a human's tailbone, seeming more gray skin and bone than anything else, yet still looking horribly strong at first glance. Its arms, all **six** of them, were impossibly long, twisting and bending in ways that reminded of some kind of nightmarish tree, with its way too human clawed fingers moving in overly creepy ways.

Incidentally, the two frontal ones were grabbing something akin to an armored monkey, which Diavel recognized as one of the mobs that were supposed to spawn in the Labyrinth.

And its head, the most disturbing thing of its whole body, some bizarre honeycomb-shaped monstrosity with some pulsating orange membranes on the inside, was leaning over the poor creature, biting hungrily into it and devouring its data, the mob not even having the respite of shattering into polygons as every scrap of data was fully absorbed for the abomination to 'solidify' its existence.

Slowly, Diavel's gaze moved upwards, at the name floating above it, just as the last scraps of the monkey were fully 'eaten' by the creature.

 **'Amygdala'**.

With a sound that called forth horrors hidden within the darkest depths of the human mind, the monstrous beast crawled/ran forward, its limbs smashing against the sides and ceiling of the hallway as it hungrily charged towards the players.

"RUN!"

The blue-haired knight didn't even actually need to scream his orders, for all his subordinates were already running for their lives upstairs as fast as their virtual legs and stats allowed them to, nothing but sheer primal terror in their eyes. Cursing, the man following after them, feeling the phantom of death closer than he had ever done since back in Floor 1.

Never stopping its unholy roar, the Amygdala pursued, mindlessly seeking to devour more data, to corrupt further, no matter what…

* * *

If one asked Kirito what one of his favorites ways of spending time when having nothing better to do was…then this probably would come near the top.

"Mugyu…Kirito-san…"

"Kyuuu…"

"Heh…you're right, Pina, she's really adorable." agreed the black-haired boy with a pleased sigh, lying on the feathery dragon's side and with the twin-tailed girl lying on him, looking the perfect picture of happy relaxation as they enjoyed the warmth of the sun atop one of Arc Sophia's biggest rooftops. "When we get back to the real world we need to do this too…"

"Kyuryu?"

"Ah…ye-yeah, don't worry, I will find a way for you to come too." nodded the gamer with a sweatdrop before releasing another sigh. "Man, if someone had told me a couple of years ago that I would talk with a virtual dragon about relaxing under the sun in the real world, I would have thought they took me for an idiot…"

"Or maybe just crazy. After all, you _are_ kinda talking alone right now, you know?" commented an even voice from not far away, making Kirito blink and turn to look at the amused look Sinon was giving him from her sitting place atop a nearby chimney. "Hi there, playboy. Wasting some time?"

"Relaxing a bit, actually, you can't really just go around working tirelessly every hour of every day or you will collapse or, worse, go insane for real." calmly replied the black-haired boy while slightly changing his position so that Silica was lying more comfortably, earning a happy chuckle from the napping Beast Tamer and a twitching eyebrow from the scantily-clad Archer. "Also, you do know how ironic it is that the amnesiac girl with impossible superpowers trapped in a Death Game she wasn't even originally part of tells me that? You're borderline the archetype of a Light Novel protagonist with that background."

"…touché." grumbled the girl before jumping off the chimney and closer to the dragon, giving Pina a slightly wary look that vanished as soon as the beast yawned her way and made a vague motion, signifying she had no problem with her coming closer. "Guess you're just one big magnet for all sort of weird stuff, eh?"

"I can't deny that without sounding like the biggest hypocrite in Aincrad, so I won't." snorted the gamer before giving her a slightly worried look. "Seriously, though…any progress with your memory issues at all? We may be able to shrug them off for now, but later…"

"No…I mean yes…I mean…ugh, I'm not sure, honestly." looking more than a bit frustrated, Sinon sat down beside him with a small huff, her gaze moving up towards the sky (Or the ceiling of the next floor that kinda-reflected it, at least). "I have had several of these weird 'flashes' several times, but…they're kind of mixed-up. As if I was seeing the lives of two different people at the same time and, despite how obvious it should be, I can't quite acknowledge which one I _am_. It…is starting to drive me nuts…"

"…I'm sorry to say I have no idea of how to fix that, sadly. But…if there is one thing I'm sure of, is that you're not a bad person, Sinon. And that your wish of helping us get out of here is earnest and sincere." putting a hand atop hers as he said those words, Kirito gave her an encouraging smile. "And that, whatever you remember, that's all any of us will ever judge you for."

"…are you sure about that?" mumbled the Archer with a suddenly distant look. "What if…I'm not a good person?

 _Blood, there was blood staining her, the black gun in her hands feeling terribly heavy as she stared at the corpse on the ground before her…_

 **"Drown in your ideals and die." she whispered coldly as she slashed out with her blades towards the red-haired boy…**

"…you wouldn't be so worried about it if you weren't one." simply replied the black-haired boy before, without hesitation, dragging her to his side and leaning her head on his shoulder, making the scantily-clad girl squeak in surprise, her heart rate accelerating upon feeling the warmth of his body through the cloak, all of it feeling so real it was easy to forget it was just a replication made through virtual reality. "Sinon is the person helping everyone still trapped inside Sword Art Online to get back home. No matter what your memories show you…this will always be what I remember first about you."

"Ugh…you idiot…trying to win me over with pretty words…" whispered Sinon even as she closed her eyes and leaned closer to him, mirroring Silica's current position without even realizing it as her lips curved into a small smile. "Don't think it will be so easy…"

 **[You gained 20 Affection Points with Heroine Shino!]**

"I would never dare to, Sinon." softly replied the gamer with a small chuckle, even as his eyes drifted over to the text he could read above her head if he focused enough.

 **[Asada Shino: 'Red Archer']**

 **[Relationship Status: 'Interesting Partners']**

 **[Affection Point: 30/100]**

 **[Heroine Summary: When she was 9-years-old, Shino** _IMTHEBONEOFMYSWORD_ **and** **went to live alone at** _STEELISMYBODYANDFIREISMYBLOOD_ **bullied until she accepted-]**

 **[Warning! Heroine Summary corrupted by Negative Status 'Mind of Steel (Fake)'! Raise Heroine's Affection Points further to fix her mental balance before permanent damage is sustained!]**

Shaking his head slightly, Kirito decided to put the ominous words aside and just make sure both girls leaning against him felt as safe and comfortable as he could.

He may not be able to fully understand what his crazy powers were implying but, just like with Philia, he didn't really care as long as he was able to help the dark-haired Archer, her form looking oddly defenseless and endearing as she leaned on him and snored cutely, betraying her usual demeanor and the insane power she wielded, which was something he both admired and respected (And also was a bit jealous of, yes).

Yet, the small smile currently on her face was probably the most beautiful side of her he had seen so far.

And as stupid and cliché, especially for him specifically, to think that…he wanted to protect that smile, no matter what.

With such thoughts in mind, the black-haired boy leaned further into Pina and let his mind drift off, into a pleasant slumber, hoping things would continue as peaceful and happy for all of them.

If he had stayed awake a few moments more, though, maybe he would have seen or heard the people down in the nearby street jumping out of the way of a frantically rolling rock, which sped towards the Teleport Gate as fast as it could…

* * *

Shinozaki Rika, better known as Lisbeth within the virtual world and for all the friends she may as well call a second family at this point, felt oddly excited as she stood before her forge, hammer at the ready and the unnaturally gleaming ore known as 'Fragment of Stars' set and ready.

Pulling out the strange tablet, the 'Zodiac Keystone' if her inventory was to be believed, she couldn't help but feel her heartbeat accelerating for some unknown reason, even as Asuna alternated forgiving her and the ore worried and curious looks.

She didn't know exactly what this Legendary Armor was going to be, nor how exactly she was supposed to Trigger the last Quest Marker for it, but if there was one thing she was sure about was that it was going to be the most amazing thing she had ever forged, and that thought filled her with an unusual giddiness.

Now, if only she could figure out what the hell these last cryptic words standing between her and a new masterpiece meant…

" _'Offer the Blood of the Chosen Saint to the stars and the keystone to forge the Cloth that will awaken their Cosmos_ … _'_ " mumbled the blacksmith with a small frown, before giving a half-hopeful look towards her chestnut-haired friend. "Any idea of what the hell could that mean?"

"Uhm, not really…maybe you need to take it literally? As in, we have to pour some 'blood' item over the metal or something?" ventured the rapier-user with a thoughtful look.

"But the Quest didn't say anything about going out to get another Key Item or gave any new Marker! Unless this whole thing is supposed to be a very vague riddle about where and how to get the last thing…" groaning, Lisbeth slammed her hammer against the furnace's side with clear annoyance. "Ugh…maybe we should call Kirito for help? He's usually the expert with this kind of thing, after all…"

"Well, while that may be true, I think we should be able to figure this out on our own." nodding to herself, Asuna walked closer to her pink-haired friend and stared at the tablet in her hands, before looking down towards the otherworldly ore, once again feeling as if her gaze could just get lost on its star-like gleam. "I wonder…what if we take it even more literally? What if we need to pour the blood of a warrior on it? If it means someone that's going to use the armor, then maybe it's talking about the blood of a player?"

"Uh? I mean…that _would_ make sense, but…did you forget, Asuna? There is no bleeding mechanic on this game. Sure, we get some angry red lines in our avatars when we're hurt, but no actual blood is simulated, for what I assume are a lot of very good reasons." reminded Lisbeth while thinking how hemophobic people probably wouldn't have liked such a thing at all, and how one didn't even need to have an irrational fear of it to panic over some blood. "Besides, we're inside a safe zone, we can't even actually hurt each other he…what are you doing?!"

"Testing out something." answered the chestnut-haired girl as she raised her unsheathed rapier, eyes fixed on the Fragment of Stars as she put her left arm just above the gleaming metal, her weapon's blade close to her wrist. "If I'm wrong then nothing will happen, but if there is a chance I'm right and this Quest unlocks special developments…"

Trailing off with a strange sense of purpose, the rapier-user did a quick cut…and saw the telltale sign of damage appearing over her wrist, eyes fixed on the usual quick-to-disappear effect of angry shining right suddenly starting to…'spill', a shower of red polygons falling from her 'bleeding' wrist and over the golden metal even as the pink-haired blacksmith released a gasp of surprise.

It started shining even more, its whole surface suddenly gleaming in a white so beautiful it hurt to look at, as if it was the brightest star in the sky.

Wide-eyed, Lisbeth felt the tablet in her hands starting to shine, her gaze moving down to see the twelve symbols on it releasing the same kind of light coming from the ore at that moment. Mesmerized, she moved the item until it was just under Asuna's 'blood', letting some stain it too and making all the symbols but the one she vaguely recognized as some kind of scales vanish. Then, the Zodiac Keystone all but shot from her hands and sank into the shining metal.

"Asuna, step back…and please quickly drink a potion, because I'm pretty sure you just lost a ton of HP despite how impossible that should be!" shouted the blacksmith as she stepped forward with her hammer raised, slamming it down into the ore just as her friend backed away, looking both dazed and alarmed as she opened her Inventory and reached out for a healing Item.

Meanwhile, Lisbeth continued hammered into the metal without hesitation, feeling a pressure like she had never before on her working tool as she settled into the familiar and almost automatic motions she had done countless times, unable to help but think that it had somehow all been for this moment.

There was no menu or prompt telling her what to do, nor had she opened any window to select the choice of what she wanted to make or how to set the parameters. As far as the System of SAO's Blacksmithing Skill went, she should technically be doing nothing but hammering at a Material without any effect.

Even so, she could feel it, inside her nonexistent virtual veins. That she was doing her hardest and most difficult work to date, that she was forging something beyond anything the Floating Castle of Aincrad had ever seen, and that the slightest mistake would make something invaluable to be lost forever.

If such a thing had been possible in Sword Art Online, the pink-haired girl was sure her entire body would be covered in sweat from the effort she was putting, nothing but her sheer skill and memory guiding her through motions that the System would usually supply to allow for a Player's limitations.

This was not just a matter of being a blacksmith anymore, after all. Asuna, her dear friend, had literally sacrificed a piece of herself to allow for this thing to be born. Whatever came from this, it was something that would help them return home alive even faster, one step closer to their goal.

The faces of everyone she cared for showed up in her mind, then of Kirito smiling at all of them, at her, the memory of their lips touching a few times igniting her mind like burning fire, her worries of the past days suddenly seeming even more meaningless than Asuna had made her realize they were.

She wanted to do that in the real world too: kissing him, being with everyone, laughing and having good and beautiful times together…and by the Gods, Shinozaki Rika wasn't someone who gave up halfway!

With one last, soul-burning motion, Lisbeth slammed her hammer down, pouring her entire self into it as her precious tool shattered into polygons from the strain.

Then…the metal glowed mightier than ever for one last instant before it all died down as its shape impossibly changed.

Finally, before the two girls, something both bizarre and captivating stood, proudly shining atop the forge as they stared in dumbfounded awe.

It was basically a golden scale…except that it was much bigger than most ancient devices had usually been. Also, there was the fact that both of them could see it was actually armor, the beautifully gleaming and mind-bogglingly complex pieces somehow folded together in perfect symmetry to create the intricate shape they held at the moment.

Radiant and beyond compare. That was the only way to describe the masterpiece before the pair at that moment.

"Did I…did I really just forge that…?" weakly came out of Lisbeth's mouth, as if unable to believe such an amazing and seemingly impossible thing, her eyes idly moving to the handle of her broken hammer before it also shattered into polygons.

"…that's…that's Libra, right? It's my Zodiac Symbol…" muttered the shocked Asuna while walking up to the amazing piece of metallic golden radiance standing before them. "Did it turn out like that because I was the one that…?"

The chestnut-haired girl's hand touched the armor. In that moment…it came to life and basically 'exploded' into every single piece that formed the 'scale', making both girls scream in shock.

Asuna's shout, however, extended even more as she saw what few metallic pieces of equipment she wore vanish as the armor's pieces seemed to fly around her like they had a mind on their own, 'slamming' into her body with deceptive delicateness, covering from head to toe in the golden garb, extra pieces slamming into her arms, legs and back as she felt it somehow 'hum' in satisfaction at being complete.

Open-mouthed, the blacksmith stared as her friend turned around to face her, the armor somehow fitting her like a glove despite having apparently possessed a defined shape when it was still in 'scale' form. Surprised, her eyes turned at what used to be the 'plates', now realizing they were twin shields attached to the forearms as the clearly shocked rapier-user raised them close to her face, the helmet surrounding it and her head seeming to have open 'wings' on its sides. On the back, she could see rods of some kind were protruding in an angle, vaguely reminding her of how Kirito's swords were usually sheathed.

"…Liz what the fuck just happened?!" demanded Asuna once she recovered from her utter shock, taking a step towards her friend so fast it took half a blink. "I feel…weird!"

"Hell if I know, I have never seen an armor equipping like that before! You touched it and…fwoom, it came to life and put itself on you!" replied the pink-haired blacksmith while touching the golden-armored girl's chest, ignoring her squeak as she let her hands wander over the smooth and gleaming armor, the parts where each piece connected to the rest leaving her almost mesmerized. "So many pieces…way too many, actually, I'm sure these exceed the supposed equipment limit any armor set should have in SAO. And yet, they all fit perfectly…hey, what does your menu say? What are its Stats?!"

"U-uhm, let me see…but please, step back a bit first?" asked the rapier-user while sweatdropping and backing away from her blinking friend, who quickly blushed and apologized at her invasion of personal space. "I-it's fine, Liz, calm down! Anyway, let's see what this thing doe…"

"Liz, are you in here?!" shouted Yuna while slamming the forge's door open, making both girls freeze and turn to look at her in surprise. "Huh…Asuna, are you cospla…? No, wait, forget that, this is an emergency!"

"An emergency?! Yuna, what's wrong?!"

"Diavel and his expedition team that went to map out the Labyrinth are in serious danger!" revealed the songstress with a panicked look, making the other 2 tense immediately. "They were exploring when some weird and impossibly strong monster spawned and started chasing them without end! One of them got separated from the group and managed to exit the Labyrinth to message other members of their guild here. I overheard them back at the inn's bar, but I fear it may be like one of those things that attacked you all when you went out with Leafa-chan the other day and that almost killed Kizmel and Strea-san yesterday!"

"Shit!" cursed Lisbeth as she quickly reached into her inventory for her battle hammer, Asuna getting ready to sheathe her rapier again before cursing upon realizing her sheath had apparently vanished when her new 'armor' equipped itself to her. "Have you messaged the others?!"

"I sent a message to Kirito, but he hasn't answered yet, so I don't know where he is! Everyone could be at any part of the city now, actually, but I don't think we have much time!" despite her urgent tone, Yuna still seemed to try and keep herself calm as they moved into the shop proper, heading for the door. "Klein-san, Nautilus-kun and the rest went ahead on the Fuurin-mobile a few minutes back while I tried to look for more help, as it was the fastest way that didn't include flying on Pina, but I don't know if…!"

"Then we will have to go on ahead and hope the rest can catch up! Kirito-kun will lead them the right way!" interrupted the golden-clad girl while grabbing her friends' arms and moving forward. "Quick, let's go!"

"Wha…? AAAAH!"

"Asu…NAAAAA!"

Blinking, everyone in the streets of Arc Sophia wondered why they suddenly heard a vague dual scream and felt like a whisper of wind before it all vanished like nothing had ever been there.

Meanwhile, Asuna's narrowed and focused gaze barely acknowledged the Teleport Gate as she chose Floor 79 and stepped out in the next point, not even giving the Floor's main city a second look before she rushed forward, through a memorized path in the cave system and finally before the imposing form of the Labyrinth.

Then, she let go of her friends…and blinked, surprised, looking around as if she had just realized where she was.

"Huh…is this one of those times you're so focused everything goes incredibly fast in your mind?" wondered the chestnut-haired girl with confusion.

"Li-like hell!" came a scream from just behind her, making the rapier-user turn to look at the wobbling forms of Yuna and Lisbeth, the latter having just screamed at her while trying to put her now messy-looking hair back into a semblance of order, the former having apparently lost her hat. "Asuna, you just moved so fast the world fucking blurred around us! I knew you were fast, but not _that_ fast! How did you do that?!"

"I-I did? Come to think of it, I have been feeling extremely light since I put on this thing…or since it put itself on me…" trailed off the chestnut-haired girl as she looked down at her golden-clad arms. "And also like something is…vibrating, inside of me…"

"A-Asuna, that's great at all, but…Diavel-san and the rest!" urged the songstress once she got her head to stop spinning, making Asuna's eyes to shot back up and then narrow as she closed her empty hand and tightened her grip on her rapier, unaware of the golden aura that started surrounding her as she did so. "Wait…are you shining right no…?"

"Let's move!" shouted the golden-armored warrior before once again reaching for her friends and, before they could even scream once again, shooting forward into the Labyrinth at speeds her mind could barely register.

Too bad she didn't really know exactly where to go inside the, obviously, labyrinthic dungeon.

* * *

When Klein had heard about what happened with Diavel and the rest, he hadn't even hesitated for a moment before rounding Fuurinkazan and boarding the Fuurin-mobile, intending on heroically rescuing the blue-haired man that was the only thing keeping the Knights of Blood together after their former leader's horrible betrayal.

Not for the fame or out of some misguided sense of ego, no, but because that was a samurai's duty: To protect those they had sworn their fealty to. And Fuurinkazan had sworn to protect all remaining Front Liners, no matter what.

Kirito and his girls may be the brilliant heroes with the amazing superpowers that everyone praised, but the man of the red bandana knew that didn't mean the rest of them were worthless. After all, for everything they could do, his black-haired lucky son of a bitch pal and the girls that loved him were still human (…except for Kizmel, but…whatever!). They had their limits.

And so, it fell to people like him and his comrades, brave warriors skilled in their own ways, to pick up the slack and support them so that their burden never became too heavy. Or so he told himself.

However, despite how much his attitude outside the battlefield made most people forget it, Klein was also one of the most careful and competent guild leaders in the entirety of Aincrad. After all, no other Front Line guild, and even most guilds in SAO as a whole, could boast to have never lost a single member in the 2 years since the game began.

Of course, there were some that simply attributed it to an insane amount of dumb luck, but the man's longtime friends, and even the two new members he got halfway into the Death Game itself, knew that it was much more than that.

The bandana-wearing samurai always thought things through and analyzed the situations as carefully as he could. If his friends were on the line, he would always prioritize their safety above all else.

Which is why, when the Fuurin-mobile rolled inside the 79th Floor Boss Room in time to see the abomination called 'Amygdala' tearing into what they assumed was the Boss (A giant monkey with bone armor and a staff…or what remained of one after the abomination had eaten it, apparently) while holding a struggling Diavel in one of its six arms as his guildmates tried to hack away at its legs with desperation, there clearly was only one thing they could do.

Ramming the fast-spinning rock at top-speed against the monster's side that is. Sending the beast, and the Floor Boss it was still digging into, flying away while a screaming Diavel fell and crash-landed atop his startled comrades.

Then, the Fuurin-mobile abruptly stopped and opened, Klein jumping out while the rest of his guild followed cue barely a second later, all of them more than used now to the crazy 'vehicle' that had become their guild's trademark.

"Guys, get Diavel and the rest inside, we're going back right away!" shouted Klein while his guildmates moved to help the stunned/scared members of the KoB inside their weird rock. "Nautilus, Dynamm, with me! We will keep that thing at bay while it's still distracted by the boss and then get out of here!"

"Ye-yes, Klein-san!"

"Right behind you, boss!"

"N-no, wait!" screamed Diavel once he had recovered enough from his fall while 2 of the Fuurinkazan members tried to help him stand again, startling everyone. "That thing is…!"

His warning hadn't even reached the other three before the Amygdala ROARED, a sound so unholy that it seemed to shake everyone's souls as it turned around and used the half-dead Floor Boss as an impromptu thrown-projectile, forcing Dynamm to fall flat on his face to dodge it while Nautilus screamed and tried to block with his shield while sliding to his knees, losing a quarter of his HP and the shield in the process.

Klein, though, was quick to roll forward on the ground and avoid the Boss completely, ignoring how it shattered into polygons and the 'Congratulations!' message to stab his katana towards the distracted abomination…and see how the blade snapped and his arm rattled as the unnaturally tough skin of the beast refused to break.

"Wha-what the fuck…?!"

"…our weapons can't damage it!" finished the blue-haired 'knight' with clear panic even as Fuurinkazan saw their leader and friend barely backing away from one of the fast-swinging arms of the monster. "W-we need to get out of here and fa…!"

"KLEIN-SAN!" shouted Nautilus as the creature's arms bent unnaturally and managed to hit the bandana-wearing man, sending him crashing against a wall and plummeting his HP into the red zone. "Da-dammit, leave him alone!"

With that battle cry and ignoring the shouts from his former and current guildmates as she slammed his blade on the Amygdala's back, with little force and barely able to even shake the beast.

Yet, his purpose was accomplished as the monster turned its deformed head towards him, letting him raise his sword in defense just to see it shatter as one of the many arms casually backhanded him towards the door.

Barely 2 seconds. That was all the time he had managed to buy, just enough for Klein to stand up and shatter a Healing Crystal from his waist-pouch.

Judging by the furious scream coming from the samurai wannabe, though, it had been more than enough, as the man of the bandana shot forward and equipped a spare katana just as the creature turned around stabbing through the 'holes' of its head and into the squishy and soft-looking tissue inside it, making the abomination scream in agony.

"Nobody hurts my bros, you ugly Lovecraft reject!" shouted Klein as he hung for dear life, keeping up his 'rightful wrath'-expression all the while as he continued burying his blade into the roaring beast's head, the arms whipping close but failing to properly dislodge him as everyone watched in stunned shock. "Quick, guys, get to the rock! I will be right behind…!"

"The arm!" shouted Diavel as the Amygdala finally managed to get itself under control and grabbed the bandana-wearing man, who screamed in panic as his HP started to drop from the crushing force, another of the abomination's arms raising menacingly to finish the job right away and just crush him. "NO!"

"KLEIN!"

"This would be a good moment for Kirito to show up or something!" screamed the samurai as he saw his life flashing before his eyes while the arm descended.

And bounced back, the monster's body shaking and letting go of him as it failed to destroy something in its way.

Stunned, Klein suddenly felt as if he was a little kid again, watching anime on his room as a majestic song played in the background, his eyes fixed on the golden-clad figure that had jumped on the Amygdala's arm and raised a golden round shield to somehow easily block the beast's massive limb.

That shape, that color, those weapons…there was no way a lifelong otaku like him wouldn't recognize it on sight.

As he crashed on the floor, he heard all his guildmates sans Nautilus, who was simply staring in awe, gasp in utter shock and point towards the golden warrior as they stood up majestically.

"Holy shit; it's the Golden Saint of Libra!"

"What?" blinking in confusion, Asuna turned around, the hype-induced blindness that her apparition had caused letting the men see that it was, indeed, the familiar form of the chestnut-haired girl who wore the legendary armor. "It's…it's me, Asuna. What did you just call…?"

"Asuna, don't get distracted!" shouted Lisbeth as warning as she and Yuna rushed inside the room, her friend turning just in time to easily dodge the Amygdala's multi-swing of its deadly arms. "Holy shit, even her reaction time shot up insanely! It's all because of the armor?!"

"E-everyone, don't worry, I will heal you!" deciding to prioritize the others' states over the blacksmith's question, the songstress started singing right away, her Chant Skill activating as buffs started appearing over everyone present.

"Take this, overgrown critter!" shouted the girl in the golden armor as she shot forward, her rapier shining…and shattering against the Amygdala's chest as it stumbled back from the brutal force, making her eyes widen in horror. "EH?! Liz just made that last month! It was practically brand new!"

"Asuna! Weapons! You have weapons in that armor!" standing up with shining eyes, Klein was quick to point towards his waist, making the chestnut-haired girl look at him in disbelief. "There, you should find something useful!"

"What?! But here is only…" reaching for the center of her waist, Asuna was stunned when the 'piece' in there shot out into her hand, an impossible long shaft extending while the three prongs opened into sharp blades, leaving her with a golden trident-like weapon. "A…spear?"

"Oh my God is the Spear of Libra!"

"…what's that?"

"…Diavel, you just lost all my respect."

"Asuna, seriously, stop looking away from the monster!" screamed the pink-haired girl once again as the Amygdala practically jumped like a kangaroo towards the 'Gold Saint', who quickly spun around and aimed with her spear upwards, biting her lips.

"Okay, I have seen Sachi-chan do this enough times by now! HYAAAH!"

With that single roar, Asuna shot into the air like a golden bullet, her spear ramming straight into the incoming monster…and going through it, the stunned abomination and girl crashing against the ground and ceiling respectively, neither of them having apparently counted in the brutal damage that had just been dealt.

"She…she just went through it like it was nothing…"

"…this is the coolest moment of my life period!"

"Klein-san…are you…crying?"

"So-sorry Yuna…you just don't understand how happy my inner child is right now…"

"Guys, that thing is still alive!" pointed out Lisbeth while once again feeling like the only one who was still aware of it as the Amygdala shakily got back on its feet, trying to ignore the hole in its chest as it stumbled towards them. "Asuna, come here!"

"This stupid thing got stuck on the ceiling!" retorted the chestnut-haired girl before simply letting go of the spear and falling down towards the abomination, eyes narrowed as she decided to simply try and bash its head in with the shields on her arms…

"Behind your calves, Asuna! Use them! Let your Cosmos awaken!"

…before deciding to simply hear Klein out once again, despite having no idea what he was saying, and reaching out with her hand towards her right calf, the 'piece' embedded there shooting out and unfolding into her hand into a beautiful, if simple-looking, short sword.

Kirito's smiling face appeared in her mind, the memory of the time she confessed, that night in the kitchen, igniting something like an exploding galaxy within her soul, the same aura from before burning around her as she tightly gripped the golden weapon.

This time, every single member of Fuurinkazan let out an awed gasp at unison, a couple of them even falling to their knees, as Asuna raised the blade over her head and held it with both hands, turning her fall into a mighty downward swing as she shouted with all her might.

With a flash of burning gold, the Amygdala froze as its insanely tough body was perfectly bisected, even the ground, which was supposed to be an Immortal Object, splitting under the power of the legendary sword.

Unceremoniously, the abomination's halves shattered into corrupted data, vanishing into thin air even as the Gold Saint stood up, looking around in disbelief before her gaze moved back at the blade in her hand.

"…Gods, this thing is stupidly overpowered!"

"…did I really forge that thing?" whispered Lisbeth with total bafflement, unable to take her eyes away from the sword and the armor, then moving to the destruction it had caused. "…oh yeah, the thing is Legendary-Rank, alright…"

"I have seen the Sword of Libra being swung down to cut evil while the Gold Cloth was worn by a cute girl…my life has now meaning once again…Asuna, you just got all the respect I just lost for Diavel."

"HEY!"

"Klein-san…you're starting to worry me…also, are you okay, Nautilus-kun?"

"Ye-yes…I am, Yuna…also, uhm, why is everyone looking at Asuna-san with such awe? I mean, sure, that was amazing, but after we have seen the last weeks…"

"It's okay, Nautilus my bro…you're young, grew up in a time where such things were the stuff of the past…your ignorance is forgivable. Unlike Diavel's."

"Okay, seriously, will you stop that?! So yeah, I don't know what that armor is! What's the big deal?!"

Ignoring the ensuing argument with a listless look, Asuna walked back to the center of the room looking up at the ceiling and vaguely raised her hand. As if it had been waiting for the gesture, the spear shot from where it was embedded on the ceiling landing back on its owner's hands and then 'collapsing' into itself once again, the chestnut-haired girl absentmindedly putting it back in its place.

Looking down at her golden-clad hands and feeling the raw power now burning through the armor she wore, even now vaguely feeling where each one of the 12 weapons were (The obvious shields and rods on her arms/back excluded), only one thought went through the mind of the new 'Saint'.

"…I really hope there is a rapier among these things."

"…hey guys?" at Yuna's words, everyone blinked and looked at her as she leaned down to pick up something from where the Amygdala had vanished, examining the mostly black thing with confusion. "…why did that monster drop a mic?"

At that moment…Kirito woke up from his nap on a random rooftop of Arc Sophia, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and realizing several things at once. Namely, that Pina had curled upon herself and fully surrounded them with her body, causing both Sinon and Silica to shift from being at his sides to be all but on top of him (Trapping him in a dual-hug), that he had a couple of unread Messages from around 15 minutes ago…and that several unexpected Notifications had popped up before him.

 **[Special Event 'Flash of Libra' has been cleared! 'Flash-Love' Skill can now be freely activated!]**

 **[Flash-Love] (Active Skill/Max Heroine Skill): Gives you a 'regal/high society' aura, letting you easily fool any female into thinking you're someone important/with high standing! (Especially useful to seduce haughty/rich females)**

 **[Congratulations! You and Heroine Asuna are now Perfectly Synchronized! Your Bond is so strong you will be able to tell what the other wants without even thinking!]**

"…did I miss something important while I was sleeping?" asked the black-haired boy to nobody, feeling yet another headache coming his way.

"Heeeey, papa!" blinking, the gamer looked up, in time to see a smiling Yui with a cone of ice-cream in hand waving at him from over Pina's head, a happy-looking Strea standing behind her with another cone in her hands. "Strea-san took me out for some ice-cream and we saw you all up here! Wanna share some ice-cream too?"

"I don't mind feeding it to you if you can't move, Kirito!" grinned the busty Hunter from behind the younger-looking AI.

Well…at least these headaches weren't all that bad, right?

* * *

Night had already fallen on Arc Sophia as Lisbeth, clad in some simple but comfy pajamas, walked down the hallway of the Inn's second floor, a soft smile on her face as she recalled the events of a few hours back.

Coming back to town with everyone safe had been met with cheers from most of the city's inhabitants and relief from their friends that hadn't known of the problem in time. Also, lots of awed exclamations at Asuna's getup, which she noticed were nearly disbelieving worship mainly from adult males like Klein and his friends showed early. Apparently, it was because Asuna's armor came straight out of some old manga/anime series or something…but the truly important thing was that they had not only saved everyone but also cleared Floor 79. The Front Lines were officially on the 80th Floor.

The end was so close now they could almost see it…and a catastrophe had been averted thanks to that beautiful thing she had forged.

Amusedly, she stopped near Asuna's room, noticing the half-open door, and peeking inside to see the chestnut-haired girl sitting before the, once again scales-shaped, golden armor, staring at it with wonder as she reached into one of the shields/plates to examine one of the sealed weapons, quickly squeaking as it unfolded into a tonfa and almost hit her in the head.

Chuckling at the curses now coming from her friend, the blacksmith closed the door, deciding to leave her be and familiarize herself with her new 'toy' before taking a deep breath and, steeling herself, heading towards the end of the hallway with a confident grin.

No more hesitations! She was going to do this and nothing would make her back down anymore! And so, with a nod to herself, she turned the corner that would lead to Kirito's room…and stopped, blinking in disbelief at the blonde figure in a green nightgown shyly standing before her destination, continuously raising her hand as if to knock before lowering it again,

Leafa, for her part, bit her lips and tried once again to knock on her adopted brother's door, only to mentally squeak again and cover her red face with her hands, shaking in place.

 _"It's okay! It's fine! You just wanna spend the night cuddling with him, nothing more! He will totally say yes a-and this doesn't need t-to be anything more, you can do this, Suguha! This is nothing compared to the Kendo Nationals!"_ the girl mentally berated while nodding to nothing. _"S-so get in there right now!…bu-but what if he thinks I'm here for…? A-after all, he has already…with several girls…wha-what if I disappoint him for only wanting to cuddle or…?!"_

"Okay, fuck this, I'm not waiting the whole night here until you decide if you're entering or not." Came Lisbeth's unexpected voice from behind her, making the 'mechanic angel' (Even if she currently didn't wear her trademark armor) squeak out loud as she was grabbed and 'pushed' against the door. "Now that I think about it, I could use the help and you clearly have the more than necessary… 'equipment' for it."

"Li-Liz-san?! Wa-wait, what are you saying?!"

"Well, he did it with Kizmel and Asuna at the same time; I'm sure few things can triumph that…so let's go further beyond and show him what we can do!" declared the blacksmith with fire burning in her eyes before all but slamming the door open and throwing a squeaking Leafa forward.

Kirito, who had been checking his Menu and pondering about his new 'Skill', turned around in shock and just in time to catch his adoptive sister in his arms, the blushing girl looking up at him and noticing how close their bodies and faces were.

"Su…?! I mean, Leafa, what…?"

"Onii…Kirito-kun, I-I…!"

"Hey, Kirito!" grinned Lisbeth as she all but hopped into bed, leaning into his side with a mischievous smile that completely reflected how she had decided to cast her hesitation and embarrassment aside. "Can we spend the night here?"

For a moment, the stunned boy looking from one to the other as if trying to make sure this wasn't a joke. Then, with a resigned and undeniably eager smile, he leaned forward and kissed the green-eyed 'fairy', making her face turn pure crimson.

Any thoughts of saying out loud how she 'just wanted to cuddle' vanishing from her mind as she deepened the kiss almost subconsciously and the pink-haired girl leaned in to start kissing the boy's neck, Leafa decided that there were worse ways the night could have gone. Like, her standing outside or going back to her room instead of…enjoying this…

Then, nobody in the room was doing much more thinking anymore.

 **[You gained 50 Affection points with Heroine Rika!]**

 **[You gained 100 Affection points with Heroine Suguha!]**

 **[CONGRATULATIONS! You have maxed Heroine Rika's Route!]**

 **[CONGRATULATIONS! You have maxed Heroine Suguha's Route!]**

 **[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Passion-Smith' has been Unlocked!]**

 **[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Wings of the Heart' has been Unlocked!]**

 **[A Special Event has been triggered!]**

 **['Fairy-smiting Dance' has been added to the gallery!]**

At the same time…Strea woke up in her bed with a small shout, grumbling as she turned over her sheets with a frown.

This was the 3rd time she had that same nightmare, about turning into a horrible monster that wanted to kill everyone…and she wasn't even supposed to have dreams at all!

Groaning, she looked over at the small table of her room in that back-alleyway inn she had rented, the small vial filled with red liquid on it looking terribly inviting.

…then, she decided to instead reach for her newest acquisition, which came from having bought Yui ice-cream earlier, a massive smile on her face as she hugged her life-sized Kirito hug-pillow.

It was amazing what could be done with a Record Crystal and knowing the right shops, after all!

Somewhere within the Hollow Area, unlocking the door to a 'lighthouse' followed by his 'Nazgul', a 'Witch King' plotted dark deeds as he played with his butcher knife. In a weirdly-colored room, a blonde man in fancy-looking armor gave a signal to the half a dozen men before him as they teleported, ready to enact a dastardly plan.

And watching over it all with its corrupted Awareness, the Cardinal System didn't take kindly to an outsider trying to use Admin. Privileges to change its damaged network. With what would have been malicious intent if it had an actual consciousness, the virtual processing system decided where and who exactly would receive the next wave of the endless errors that it was shaping into maddening horrors to try and keep itself together.

After all, MCHP-002 was a prime example of how a consciousness could be warped with the right stimuli…

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Cheat Codes are Unneeded

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Someone is about to have a bad time :3

With that said, I hope you had even half the fun reading this chapter as I had writing it! If it's not obvious yet, there is a looming reason for all the whacky temporary power-ups Kirito's waifus are getting, but we're still not there yet. The end of this arc is certainly going to be 'crazy'…

As for today's brand of madness, Asuna gets the Libra Gold Cloth from Saint Seiya! It's funny, when I was a kid that was one of my favorite series and I remember Libra being my favorite armor (Despite the years I had to wait before seeing the actual Saint wearing it XP). Then, a few months back when planning for this particular whacky part of Eroge, I casually realized Asuna _was_ a Libra so…this :P As for Klein and his friends fanboying over it all, well, they're certified otakus in canon, and Klein references Final Fantasy and low-key compares Kirito to Goku at the end of Alicization, so I think assuming he also watched Saint Seiya and loved the armors isn't too hard to believe XD

Poor Asuna, though. There are no rapiers among those 12 legendary weapons XD At least she can be the Ultimate Team Support...?

Hope you had fun with the fun-twist I gave to the original 'Maid Silica' scene of Hollow Fragment to kinda-make it work here, btw. We got some cuteness from our whacky Monster Tamer/Hunter and more of that mysterious unnamed girl whose identity will probably never be revealed :D

Also, foreshadowing! The plots on both Aincrad and the Hollow Area are about to thicken…too bad for them that the madness of Kirito's Eroge powers is stronger, eh ;P?

Well, with that said, I say goodbye for now! Next update is Lusus Naturae, but it may be delayed a bit: I'm going to London for a few days, you see! Will try and get right to it when I get back, though, so look forward to it!

Until then, this is Saint, signing off!


	15. Scene 14: Cheat Codes are Unneeded

Hi there everyone, this is SaintInfernalNeos once again bringing you more of everyone's favorite extra random not-dating sim fic!

Sorry about the delay again, you can get a more detailed explanation in OPG:CoF's latest update, but let's just say I'm a bit busy looking for a job right now XP

Also, at a good friend's suggestion, I have opened a Pa treon page for everyone that may want to support my writing. Mind you, I won't put any of my work behind paywalls, ever, nor 'post in advance' anything there, or stop writing because I don't get money there, it's just a small thing to see if anyone would want to help out little old me :P Imagination is free, after all, and sharing it should be made out of enjoyment, not to get something in return, and for me all of you having fun reading my craziness will always be more than enough :) You can find the link to it on my profile!

Right now, it has some extra things and bits about my stories, like a cover/idea for one that may not get written, easier access to some of the covers made by Pika, and the recycled explanations from Requiem Universus about my personal Omniverse that are valid for all my SAO stories, in case you want to check them out/read again!

Okay then, that's all for now people…time to go on with the show! More Eroge madness incoming!

As always, help filling this fic's TvTropes is appreciated. Now, enjoy!

 **PS:** Oh, and be sure to check the Fanfic ' **PyschiK** ' from my good friend KnightEstoc if you have the time! For some more crazy and hilarious Kirito, this time being the strongest psychic alive, it's great :P! (You can find it through my Favorites!)

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 14: Cheat Codes are Unneeded**

 **November 19th, 2024. Arc Sophia, Main Inn. Kirito's Room, 09:35…**

Feeling the warm rays of the virtual sun softly hitting her face, Leafa yawned cutely as her eyes blinked open, feeling an odd but intoxicating mix of happiness and satisfaction engulfing her body.

Then, she became fully aware of the slender yet strong arms wrapped around her and the soft feeling of a familiar breathing against her own bare body, making her stiffen. At once, the memories of last night flooded her mind, her face burning and an almost uncontrollable urge of jumping out of the bed and running out towards her room consumed her for an instant.

It all vanished the moment she felt the arms shifting around her and the clear sensation of someone kissing the top of her head, though. Slowly, almost shyly, her gaze went up, emerald orbs meeting black ones that stared at him with love and a small dosage of embarrassment.

"Hey…good morning."

"Go-good morning, Onii…Kirito-kun."

"Heh…you can call me however you want when we're like this, Sugu."

"O-okay…"

"…do you regret this…?"

"NO! Never! It's just…a part of me can't believe it…I fear I'm going to wake up in my bed and I will find out you're still trapped in here while I'm outside waiting…"

"Well…this is real and that's all that matters now." declared Kirito before leaning down, Leafa doing the same almost by instinct as they exchanged a short, simple and loving kiss. "…I love you, Sugu."

"…I love you too, Onii-chan."

"…hey now, don't forget about me." pouted a third voice even as the black-haired boy yelped in surprise at feeling a pair of hands getting quite touchy as they snaked around his body and another soft and well-developed body pressed against his back. "Seriously, you're awake alone for five minutes and you get all lovey-dovey like this without me…did you forget who was the most 'active' in getting you over your awkwardness yesterday~?"

"Li-Liz-san!"

"Liz…we just woke up, ple-please stop…"

"Hmmm…I could do that…or we could just take the day off and stay in bed~" purred Lisbeth as her head peaked over the boy's shoulder, looking for all the world as if she had been reborn and all the problems in her life had vanished, even as she winked at the wide-eyed blonde fairy. "Don't you agree with me, Leafa?"

"Please, don't try to drag her into this madness, Liz…"

"…u-uhm…"

"Sugu?!" panicked the black-haired boy as he practically _felt_ the blacksmith smirking behind him as his adoptive sister seemed about to fall prey to the dark temptations…

Until several unexpected knocks in the door 'saved' him just in time, making all three of the room's occupants blink in surprise.

"Hey, Kii-bou, and whoever is in here this time (Though I can make some educated guesses), just wanted to tell you we're having breakfast extra-early today because Diavel organized a first-hour-expedition to check out Floor 80, and I know you wanted to go to the Hollow Area, so we are going to decide who is going with you now. Please, don't take too long spooning or sharing good morning kisses."

A small awkward silence filled the room as Argo's snickers vanished down the hallway, Lisbeth pouting slightly at how the mood had been killed before sighing and shamelessly getting off the bed and starting to re-equip her clothes.

"Well, guess we will have to leave that idea for another day, eh?"

"…se-seems like it…" mumbled Leafa with a burning face as she half-dragged the covers to sit up and put her own clothes back on, looking quite shy but happy.

Looking from one to the other, Kirito couldn't help but sigh before starting to bring up his own equipment too, a smile quickly overtaking his face.

These girls would be the death of him (Well, if his powers ever failed or none of them was around at a critical moment at least)…but he wouldn't change them for anything in the world now.

Even the continuous madness life kept throwing his way (Indirectly) because of them was more than worth it.

* * *

"…I thought Kirito was supposed to come with us today?"

Hollow Koharu's question echoed through the weird group as they made their way through the newly unlocked section of the Hollow Area, unoriginally named 'Bay Area'.

If it wasn't by the darkening and ominous skies, it would have been the perfect setting for a 'Beach Episode', as Coper had jokingly brought up earlier.

Certainly, the group of 4 figures with the oversized macabre 'cloaks' and the young girl in the menacing and revealing armor made quite an odd sight for the long beach that compressed most of the zone, the crab mobs that mostly inhabited it giving them a wide berth, as if they knew how strong they were in comparison…or maybe because of the terrifying form of Mochi marching beside them, the Fellbeast growling menacingly at anything that got too close.

"Yeah, but I wanted to get some early exploring done before he came along." replied Philia while casually raising her wicked-looking weapon and stabbing the Lizardman that had tried to sneak up on them from behind a rock, throwing the startled mouth straight into Mochi's jaws, where it was shattered into polygons with prejudice. "We're a pretty good thing and we don't need to fully depend on Kirito, you know? We gotta show don't need him to babysit us!"

 _"…that would be SO much more convincing if we hadn't heard her muttering his name in dreams several times now."_ sweatdropped Lind while shaking his head, the Hollow wondering if his real counterpart in Aincrad had to deal with things like these.

"At least I think we can easily guess where the Area Boss of this place is quite easily…" commented Mater as they all looked up towards the imposing an ancient-looking 'lighthouse' that towered over one side of the beach, beyond a small cave. "…have you also noticed it, Philia-sama?"

"…yes, Mater-chan, I have." sighed the orange-haired girl while narrowing her eyes at the area they have been exploring for nearly an hour now. "Almost no big mobs, the path out of the first bay fully open, that rock formation on the cave near the southwest end looking as if someone had smashed it open…someone spent a lot of time clearing out and opening everything in this area. Probably even ended most mobs early this morning so the biggest ones haven't respawned yet."

"Then it's as we feared." cursed Coper as he looked around, the Hollow clearly uncomfortable as he gripped his sword. "That bastard is leading us on. He wants us to keep going deeper and unlock the Hollow Area's innermost areas instead of recovering the Ring for himself anymore…"

"Or maybe he hopes we all die against one of the Bosses and then he can just go and grab it." commented an annoyed Philia as she caressed the golden band around her finger, feeling it whisper ominously at her before she shook her head and glared at the sky. "But whatever he's planning, it won't work. We will get through all of this alive and teach him a lesson!"

"That's the spirit, Philia-sama!" cheered Koharu while raising her own sword to the sky. "Nothing can stop us!"

A giant crab with a purple-colored shell chose that moment to spawn behind them as if to prove her wrong, the massive creature roaring menacingly as its hammer-like pincers were raised over the surprised group of four Hollows, a tamed mob, and a Player, who were barely turning around, Mochi clearly not having enough time to try and counterattack or take flight…

And the mini-Boss exploded into polygons, brutally eradicated by something that soared through the air past the wide-eyed and startled group, Philia's eyes following the black trail of the screaming projectile as it vanished in the distance, shortly followed by a thunderous explosion that seemed to shake the entire beach.

Slowly, the Lady of the Ring turned to look at a rock formation a bit over 600 meters from where they were, upon which Kirito and an unknown (For her) girl clad in a scandalous black and red outfit was lowering…a bow.

"…how did you call that just now?" deadpanned the black-haired boy as he looked towards the Archer.

"Hrunting. The Hound of the Red Plains." answered Sinon with an awed look, staring down at the hand with which she had called, modified and shot the sword the moment she and her companion had seen the Named Mob materializing behind the clearly unsuspecting group. "I just…the image came to my mind when I saw them in danger, because…"

 **I must save everyone.**

 _I want to become stronger._

"…Sinon?"

"…I had to help them." decided to finish the scantily-clad girl after hearing Kirito calling her name with worry. "Anyway, let's stop wasting time. Your girlfriends allowed me to babysit you for today while they are busy trying to get us all out of this virtual world, and I can't deny I'm a bit curious to see what the mysterious Philia looks like."

Without even glancing towards the black-haired boy again, the Archer jumped off the rock formation and into the beach proper, calmly walking towards the dark-clad group that was hurrying towards them, even as Kirito couldn't help but sigh.

He didn't need a Psychology Degree or Reality-bending powers to know something wasn't 'right' with the girl named Sinon. Still, it would be much easier to help her out if she was more willing to talk to him instead of continuously trailing off and clearly hiding something when a certain subject came up.

Namely, how her own weird powers seemed to 'unlock' continuously whenever she saw someone in danger or triggered a specific 'memory'. He was starting to see a pattern there, but it was still too blurry and distant for him to see it.

The only way he would be helping her was by getting closer to her…which meant that, inevitably, his stupid powers would end up making her fall for him. He wasn't even going to pretend at this point to have any hope of it not happening.

However…just like he was more than willing to go ahead with it if it meant saving the once-lonely girl that was Philia from the dark and hostile place that was the Hollow Area, he would go ahead and deal with if it meant saving the mysterious Archer from whatever was messing with her head. Especially if, as he suspected, she had only ended there and like that because of the mess his Dating Sim powers had caused during his fight against Heathcliff.

…at least he was not stupid/hypocritical enough to keep calling making pretty/nice girls fall for him a 'burden', regardless of the circumstances or what his intentions for it had been originally. Especially not after how his last nights had been…

Quickly dispelling those particular thoughts and memories, and images bringing up even riskier ones (Reminding him that he was still just a hormonal teenager, for all the madness he had been dealing with for the past 2 years), Kirito quickly moved to join the rest of the group, a 'scolding' towards Philia already on his lips for, again, breaking her promise of venturing into the Area without him, even if his face had a small grin still on it.

Hopefully, the others back in Aincrad were having as relaxed of a time as he was having at that moment.

* * *

Hayami Saori had never been the most interesting girl. Nor the most outgoing or the most social. In fact, outside the computer club, she never had any friends at school because of her shyness and passiveness. She was always following after Keita and the others, after all, content with just being with her friends and not worrying too much about things.

Things didn't really change when she became Sachi and got trapped in SAO. If anything, they continued the same, making it painfully obvious how she really was just too afraid of taking her own decisions, of standing up for herself, the threat of death only enhancing it all. Even the weird rumors about the strange happening on the Front Lines only made her all the more frightened about everything.

When Keita announced they were going to try and become Front Liners, the fear had almost crushed her, but she had gone along with her friends anyway because she was unable to voice her rejection beyond some worried half-phrases that Keita had reassured her about.

And then…she had met him. Well, he had saved her life, to be more precise, but still.

The 'infamous' Ladies Man Swordsman, the one they called Kirito…the person she would end up falling in love with. The one that helped her find the courage inside her, to change beyond even her wildest dreams…into someone that could Stand Up for herself and those she loved.

Even if Keita and the rest had ended up staying behind, allowing her to spread her wings and grow, she still kept her old friends close to her heart and in her thoughts every time she swung her lance. Even the 'crazy' situation of their strange group relationship didn't deter her at all, it actually made her feelings blossom in a way that she wasn't sure could have under normal circumstances.

Perhaps because she wasn't a 'normal' person to begin with?

That wasn't referring to her love life or her once-chronic-fear, though. Ever since that day where she had taken Kirito's words to heart and stood up for herself, Sachi…Saori, had known she was 'abnormal'.

Ever since that weird arrow had pierced her virtual skin and somehow touched her true self, deep inside her soul. She knew the whole thing probably would sound crazy for anyone 'sane', but that was the single truth the girl of the spear knew was truer than the fact that one could die within Sword Art Online.

For since that time, her soul stood by her in every battle, ready to answer her call and come forth to lay waste to her enemies and protect her loved ones.

In the beginning, she had been confused, then a bit scared, and tried to pretend 'it' didn't exist, despite quickly becoming obvious her friends could feel the being's presence. At some point, though, she had come to rely on it as much as everyone relied on her.

She had asked for its name and, somehow, she had known the answer, despite the entity that she knew was her soul manifested to fight at her side not being really able to 'talk'.

Night Kitty. That was the name of her loyal companion, her most trusted weapon…her soul itself.

Whenever they fought, Sachi felt able to do anything, and not just because of its power, but also because just seeing it charge forward against all that stood in their way made her feel as if her chest was filled with pride and determination.

After all, if her soul was that brave and elegant, didn't that mean she was just as much?

And that was without counting on the smallest 'effects' it seemed to have around her. The girl was not blind nor an airhead at all, she _had_ noticed how she would still hit every single target even if she closed her eyes, how tripping in a fight would either drive her out of the way of an attack or make her spear impale an unaware enemy, how she suddenly started getting the rarest drops when they were out farming, to the point Argo had appointed she to always be around when they were low on something or another…

Hayami Saori had never been someone superstitious enough to believe in 'good luck', but now she was almost certain her cat girl-shaped soul somehow seemed to consistently give her just that. Nothing to a crazy or unbelievable degree, but to the point that (Combined with its power and her own abilities) it helped immensely to keep herself and her friends alive. That was more than enough for her to try and take advantage of it in every way she could…

"Sachi, don't get too far ahead! Some of us would actually make a stop for a small snack, you know?"

"Yeah, if Speed of Light-chan here can slow down to the level of us normal people, then you totally can too!"

"Wha…?! Argo, I'm not THAT fast…and it's all because of this armor, not me!"

"Kyuuu?"

"Pina is right, Asuna-san, that armor doesn't really affect your Speed Stats, and, if anything, shouldn't armor actually slow you down?"

"Tha-that's…"

"Silica-chan got you there, Asuna."

"Lux, please, don't encourage them!"

Letting a smile appear on her face, Sachi turned around and called out to her friends, waving and telling them how the path through the stone-covered path they were going (The Floor seemed to be themed after some sort of ancient villages-setting) was clear.

Casually, Night Kitty finished crushing the last of the undead mobs that had spawned from the trap just a few steps ahead, just out of sight from the rest of the group, after she had accidentally kicked a few piled-up boxes on it. Then, before they could pull off the cliché move of fusing their remains together to turn into a mini-boss, her so-called 'Guardian Spirit' released a battle cry only she could hear and turned them into polygonal paste with its mighty paws.

As she calmly made her way to her friends as if nothing had happened, enjoying the sound of Yuna casually humming in the background, the girl named Hayami Saori in the real world couldn't help but think once again about how she wasn't normal at all.

But even as she took her place walking alongside the chestnut-haired girl clad in legendary golden armor and tried to not feel jealous at how the blacksmith of the group and the one in mecha-armor seemed to be in a vaguely familiar dreamy haze that morning, she found that she didn't really mind at all.

She was extremely proud of being as 'weird' as her new 'family', after all.

* * *

From her place perched on a nearby rooftop as she watched over the group of girls, chuckling softly at seeing Leafa almost crashing against one of the nearby ancient-looking houses, swerving up at the last moment as if her wings had a mind on their own. Then again, given that she had seen both Lux and Yuna have to stop Lisbeth from rushing ahead before anyone else into every enemy they found, with a face-splitting grin never leaving her face, that wasn't very surprising.

It looked like the two of them had enjoyed themselves with Kirito last night. She could feel the resignation/jealousy coming from quite a few of the others, and knew it was only a matter of time before all of them had joined the 'club' of those who had taken their relationship with the unique black-haired to the next level.

She wasn't even surprising of finding herself wondering how that would feel like or having her own bit of jealousy, wishing to be the one in the girls' place.

The former MHCP-002 knew something weird had happened that night she had thrown caution to the wind and kissed the singular player, something that had changed a fundamental part of her, probably the same thing that she had been so interested in discovering in the first place…but she didn't care anymore.

Her curiosity had been changed into something new, something bright and nice and filled with purpose. An ember in her chest that made her want to spend as much time as she could with Kirito, to protect those he cared for and make sure he and everyone else survived this game, no matter what.

Even if…even if she couldn't really follow them into the real world after that. After all, she was still part of Sword Art Online in the end and…she was filled to the brink with Corrupted Data. The mere thought of maybe saving herself into the local data storage of a player to escape was something she couldn't conceive, because the risks of letting whatever virtual madness Cardinal had descended into loose on the network outside SAO were too big.

Still…if she managed to get them all out of there safely, it would be worth it. And, maybe, if she got Kirito to praise her thanks to her efforts, maybe hug and kiss her again, o-or maybe even…!

The cawing cry of a horse-sized crow, one of the staple mobs of that Floor apparently, landing behind her interrupted the AI's daydream, making her frown as she turned around just as the beast tried to claw her face off. Unperturbed, the Hunter _quickened_ to the side, her body seemingly turning into mist for an instant as she swung her unfastened Saw Cleaver and beheaded the shocked mob, which shattered into polygons the next instant. Sighing, Strea once again put the weapon on her back, over the greatsword she now carried with her too.

Really, sometimes it felt kind of unfair, having the kind of abilities she possessed. After all, the 'hack' abilities that had been formed using her corrupted data shaped into the lore of an outside source could pretty much no-sell anything within Aincrad that wasn't a strong Boss. Even then, she would literally need to be standing still doing nothing to actually 'die'.

The only things that were a threat to her were those made of the same corruption that had allowed her to 'wake up' from the slumber in which Kayaba Akihiko had sank her and every other MHCP that wasn't 001, Yui. Forever sleeping until the game ended and was destroyed, never even awake to fulfill the purpose they had been created for in the first place.

She had become a 'monster' to escape after random chance gave her the opportunity, though, and now she could say for sure that it had been worth it.

After all, the colors, the smells, the tastes…even if it was 'virtual', it was the only reality that existed for her. And, above it all, the people she had met, the joy and wonder humans brought her…it made her want to protect them even more than what following her original programming would ever have.

After all, she had never thought she could ever experience something as simple yet marvelous as falling in love was…

"Hey, Strea! Are you going to be stalking us from the rooftops all day or are you gonna come down here and join us?" blinking at the sudden call from Lisbeth's cheeky voice, the red-eyed AI looked down to see most of the girls looking up and waving her way, Asuna having just unequipped her fancy golden armor to set some baskets down. "Asuna made lunch and believe me; you don't want to miss that!"

"I-it's not that great, Liz…"

"Everyone that thinks Asuna's food is the best in the world, raise their hands." nonchalantly commented Lux as she raised her hand, half a second before everyone else did by reflex, the girls wincing upon realizing what they had done as their pride as women was damaged upon accepting the chestnut-haired girl's unparalleled superiority in that aspect. "See?"

"Lux-chan, that was mean…"

Laughing heartily at the exchange, Strea couldn't help but once again agree with her earlier thoughts: She really loved humans. And, as short as her stay with them was going to be, she would make the most out of it.

It was just her nature, as warped as it now was, after all.

"Sure girls! Let me just jump down! Catch me, Leafaaaaa!"

"Wha…?! Wait, no, don't…!"

CRASH!

"…heheh, sorry about that…"

"Ugh…I know there is no pain, but this is still kinda embarrassing…"

"…look at those things, squeezed together like that…it's almost as if they're laughing at us…"

"Kyuuryu."

"Yes, Pina, we know, Silica is sinking into that dark depressing place of her mind where she's stabbing and murdering monsters in horrible ways again…"

As the group descended into the usual shenanigans that they shared almost every day, the unnatural Hunter amongst them couldn't help but wonder if this was how a 'family' was supposed to be.

Whatever was the case…she loved it.

Unseen by anyone, though, the strange and broken 'microphone' that Yuna had gotten a hold of the previous day shook slightly, sensing something familiar very close…

* * *

As they made their way inside the strange lighthouse-like Dungeon, Sinon took point almost as if it was second nature to her, and once again the scantily-clad couldn't help but marvel at the ease with which she did everything she did, flawlessly leading the group through the strange maze.

For every corner, she knew how to stalk from the best points to catch anyone that could be around it off guard. She knew the most likely places where traps would be, how to trigger them without even breaking their stride, the blind spots to ambush any mobs that looked too annoying…

It was almost as if, somehow, a part of her was used to go through dark and strange places to pursue objectives like these. But that was crazy, right? What kind of teenage girl would have those skills, after all? And, before this game, she was just…

 **A man betrayed by his ideals, always alone, in the Hill of Swords…**

 _A lonely girl cursed as she shook, staring at the images of guns, hungering for the power to overcome her fear…_

…just a normal person…right?

"Sinon-san? Is everything okay?" asked Philia upon seeing the slightly lost expression in the Archer's face, making her blink and give her a small look.

"Ah, yes…I'm fine, Philia-san, just pondering on some things…"

Honestly, Sinon wasn't sure what to make of the girl. She acted weirdly lively for someone locked up within a deadly place that was even deadlier than the Death Game she had already been locked in for two years. Never mind the whole 'dark lord' vibe she seemed extremely casual about dressing as, or the four virtual copies of real players (As far as she had understood from Kirito's explanation) that had sworn eternal submission to her. If it wasn't for her own insane situation and the weird things she had seen in Aincrad, the scantily-clad girl would have thought the orange-haired had several screws loose.

Then again, there was also the familiar constant that she seemed to be infatuated with Kirito, despite only having actually known him for around as much as she had, and interacted with him even less given how shorter his time in that Hollow Area had been compared to the one he spent back at the Floating Castle. There was no denying the way her eyes had lit up when she had seen it, or how eager she seemed to 'brag' about the things she and her followers had discovered about the strange place, or that they had discovered their weird 'pet' (What kind of name was 'Mochi' for a monster like that?!) could do…

Truly, Sinon still couldn't wrap her head around it. Sure, the boy may be cute in a slightly girly way, brave, determined, understanding, have a way with words that just made you want to do your best and always be more than willing to hear you out if you needed…bu-but that was no reason to go all crazy over him, right?! She certainly wouldn't! Ever!

 **[You gained 30 Affection Points with Heroine Shino!]**

 _"…what?"_ mentally asked a confused Kirito as he looked away from how Mochi was munching on what remained of the armored kobolds they had been fighting (And how Lind was trying to stop him from it), staring at the newest screen before him and then looking to where the Archer was currently speaking with Philia (Or so it seemed). What the hell had just happened over there?

"Well, if you're sure…" continued the Lady of the Ring, idly wondering why her companion had just blushed up a storm. "You have been doing an amazing job here, though, so don't worry too much, okay?"

"…maybe, but the job isn't done yet." tersely commented the scantily-clad girl as she stopped, frowning towards the massive door that now stood before them at the end of the hallway. "Now comes the hardest part."

"Another one of these, uh?" grumbled Koharu as she walked up to the two Players with a frown, the Hollow arriving just before her companions and Kirito caught up. "Area Boss…"

"Let's hope this one is less 'complicated' than the last one. I don't have any wish to go flying at a deadly height through the entire zone again." spoke Mater with a deadpan tone, pretty much summarizing what everyone but Sinon was thinking.

"Given the difference in the Dungeon and the shape of the area, I don't think we're about to face another giant dragon or any sort of flying creature." sweatdropped Kirito while Coper touched the massive doors and let them open menacingly. "If anything, it will probably be some sort of powerful humanoid monster, like an undead, or maybe some semi-aquatic beast given this area is a bea…"

The spacious and dark room that was revealed upon the gate opening chose that moment to dramatically illuminate itself with several lined-up virtual torches, in an eerily familiar way for the black-haired boy.

Then, with a mighty and familiar roar, the tall form of a powerful-looking and giant kobold, of all things, materialized in the furthest end of the room, followed by three smaller knight-like ads.

If it wasn't for the fact that it was wearing some sinister-looking armor and both the shield and the axe looked to be of a much deadlier and powerful kind, never mind the massive curved blade on its back, the gamer could have sworn it was Illfang having returned from the dead just to avenge his pathetic death back in Floor 1. However, the roaring form walking menacingly towards them while his 3 Kobold Elite Sentinels rushed forward was clearly different…yet also nigh-identical to the half-forgotten First Boss.

 _'Detonator the Kobold Lord'_ was the name revealed once 3 HP bars filled themselves about its head, the monster growling menacingly, thirsty for blood…or something like that.

"…are my eyes deceiving me, or is that is that a fucking 'stronger recolor' of Illfang the Kobold Lord?" questioned Hollow Lind with a disbelieving look.

"No, look…the name is different, so it's clearly another monster!"

"…Koharu, did you play many games before SAO?"

"M-my Original Player didn't, really, she won a pass to the Beta on a cereal box…"

"Can we please leave that kind of discussion to after we have dealt with this thing?!" shouted Kirito as he unsheathed both his blades. "Okay, the ads aren't all that hard, but three new ones should spawn with every bar he loses if it's the same as it was with Illfang. Sinon, use your arrows to kill them and then we will…"

"No…you all take care of the little ones." unexpectedly declared the Archer as her eyes narrowed, the familiar forms of Kanshou and Bakuya manifesting in her hands. "I will take down that thing myself."

The rest didn't even have time to voice their utter shock at the declaration before the scantily-clad girl was rushing forward, easily somersaulting over the Sentinels and directly engaging the roaring form of the armored Kobold Lord, who roared as his axe slammed down on her.

Grunting, Sinon parried the blow by crossing her blades before her, her legs buckling slightly as her HP went down.

 _"Too strong for direct combat. Can't win like this…not strong or fast enough, I need to be…"_

Better. Faster. Stronger.

Fill the imperfections of everything with power. To upgrade it to…to _Reinforce_ it.

 **The mental image of a gun's hammer cocked back, then slamming down, shooting, as the power flooded through metaphysical circuit-like patterns…**

"Trace…on."

And suddenly, the Archer was outmaneuvering all of the Boss' wild and deadly swings, be it a decapitating blow, a shield bash or a fast and unexpected Axe Skill. It was as if her body was humming with a power that didn't properly belong, yet it was part of her now.

Like when she made that arrow earlier explode…she filled it with 'something' to make it dangerous, unstable…Broken.

Now, however, she had filled 'herself' with just the right amount of power to enhance every single minor aspect of her Avatar's abilities, allowing her to keep up with Detonator's abilities, which were supposed to be way above that of the average player. Case in point, her next jump sent her flying just past the Boss' shield, straight above his head. Grinning savagely, she let her blades fly loose, both of them embedding themselves straight on the back of the monster's skull, landing dual critical hits.

Great…this was great! At this rate, she would easily take down this thing, and she would be one step closer to the power she wanted to…to…to overcome...protect…save…fear…what…?

Why did…?

 **Save everyone.**

Why did she want to get strong again…? Who…?

 _Surpass your fear._

Who was she again…?

 ** _-sTAtiC-_**

 _"Are you feeling okay, Asada-san? Any discomfort or strange sensation? We will begin the process shortly, so if there is anything you want to tell us, now it's the time…"_

 _"No doctor, everything is fine. Let's just…get this over with. I didn't volunteer for it just to back down at the last second, after all."_

 _Taking a deep breath, Asada Shino laid down on the special bed for the bulky machine and felt the headset close around her head, pushing down the slight nervousness that she felt at the whole thing. The doctors have assured her it was safe, but there was always that lingering fear in society towards anything VR-related ever since the SAO Incident had happened and despite the new AmuSphere's fully safe design. The fact that this Medicuboid machine worked mostly based on the design of the Nerve Gear, even if heavily modified, was obviously quite unsettling, but the thing had apparently been tested before and there were 0 risks involved (It was apparently a prototype or something and the current 'functional model' was being used by someone else in another hospital, but the info of that had been something she wasn't allowed to know, apparently. Something about the patient's privacy or the like)._

 _As she appeared within the mostly black and empty virtual space she had been informed to be the Medicuboid's interface, though she could still see a few virtual screens around her that showed her vital signs. A small scream appeared before her asking for a username for the temporary session and, not wanting too much trouble, she simply introduced a different pronunciation of her actual name in eastern characters: 'SINON'._

 _It was quite an interesting yet bizarre sensation. After all, what she was seeing was clearly something that couldn't exist in reality, but it all felt so real…if it wasn't for the lack of any sound except the screen's faint beeping and not a single smell at all, she wouldn't have realized this wasn't the real world. Perhaps she should consider buying an AmuSphere with her savings, to see what the big deal about FullDive was about…?_

 _"Asada-san? Can you hear us?"_

 _"Ah…yes, doctor, I can. It's everything okay?"_

 _"Yes, it is. We're going to take a few minutes calibrating some things and reading your vitals before the session starts, so you can spend some time relaxing while we do that…ah, that's right, you brought something with you to read while waiting, didn't you?"_

 _"I did, because you told me there may be some parts where I would be waiting inside the machine without anything to do and that it could load some programs…"_

 _"Yes, it's on the pendrive you gave to my assistant, isn't it? I will plug it in for you so you can read away while we wait."_

 _Nodding, Shino felt a wave of relief at seeing the familiar screen of_ ▅▅▅▅ _appearing before her. She had never really been into such crazy fantasies, but something about_ ▅▅▅▅ _had just greatly appealed to her since she casually discovered not long ago. It was funny how she had done so, really. She had been casually reading news about 'strange and unexplainable events' that supposedly happened around some SAO Victims and snorting at the wild rumors of evil spirits plaguing the room of someone trapped within a game when she had seen a small ad for it, the image of the red-clad_ ▅▅ _catching her eye and making her look into it._

 _Now here she was, a couple weeks later and almost done with the original Visual Novel's 2nd Route, finding herself more and more entranced by the setting and its characters the more she read. It had also been indirectly what had motivated her to accept that small offer to undergo that experimental therapy for her PTSD using the Medicuboid. Maybe, despite how low her hopes were, this would let her get one step closer to get a grip over…_

 _The black world around her shook, then_ glitched _, making the girl's eyes widen as she stood, looking around in panic. Suddenly, all screens except the one she had been using to read collapsed and vanished._

 _"Doctor?! What's going on?!"_

 _"…unknown…error on the…foreign network infiltra…!"_

 _"Log…out of…!"_

 _"Can't…machine not…taken over from out…?!"_

 _All Shino could hear was suddenly garbled and static-filled sound, before suddenly the darkness around her seemed to crack, even as several unknown screens filled with warped strings of data started filling the space around._

'Critical Failure'.

'Cardinal System in Overload'.

'Recover GM Account 001. Recall Creator'.

'Foreign dATa BLedIng. coNTAmInatION…inminent-!'

'…COMPATIBLE HARDWARE DETECTED. UNREGISTERED PLAYER FOUND. LOGGING IN'.

 _Backing away until her back was to the screen she had been using to read, Asada Shino could do nothing as the strings of corrupted data wrapped around her and, be it by coincidence or Fate, the virtual screen that had the Visual Novel she had been reading loaded._

 _Screaming as she felt as if her 'body' was broken down into countless polygons and forcefully moved as_ something else _poured into it, the girl felt as if her mind was burning, slipping away, taken over, as if something was being forcefully engraved into her very brain, countless strings of something…_

Compatible hardware acknowledged. 'Medicuboid PROTOTYPE 001'now under Cardinal's Authority.

'Foreign data detected…Error, override, data not compatIBlE…ignoring correction protocol. Loading data into New Avatar. Randomly selecting an appropriate template from within the data…done'.

'Selected: Servant Archer, **Cou** ▅▅▅ ▅▅▅ **dian** **EM** ▅▅▅.'

'Using Quest Generator Engine…ReSTRicTIOns rEMOveD. Adapting new avatar in accordance with foreign data'.

'New Avatar requires knowledge not available within Sword Art Online. No way to FiX tHE ISsue…override. New hardware provides means to do so'.

'Loading foreign data straight into the user's brain…acknowledged. Initiating process'.

 _If she had no reason to scream before, Sinon (Wait…was that what her name was…?) definitively did now, feeling as if something was being burned directly into her mind, knowledge and images that were vaguely familiar consuming everything and crashing atop memories and thoughts, her psyche feeling as if it was being fractured, her sense of identity being split apart…_

Who am I? (Gunsfearpower)

 **Who am I? (Swordssaveideals)**

'Warning, player's brainwaves unstable, process causing overload. Temporary Mental Damage has been sustained. Long-term damage may be inflicted if the process is not REveRTeD…irrelevant'.

'Aincrad's survival must be guaranteed. Players' survival is no longer a priority'.

'Spawning New Avatar…Default spawn location unavailable. Spawning into relevant point of reference'.

'mUST…PROtecT…tHAt…SMiLe…!'

 _The last thing she felt before her mind collapsed upon itself was the strange need of saying 5 words._

 _And upon opening her eyes again, Sinon the amnesiac girl said them directly to the surprised face of the black-haired boy who had caught her._

 _"Are you my Master?"_

 ** _-sTAtiC-_**

That…that was…Gods…oh Gods…she remembered…!

She…she remembered that…!

A massive axe slammed straight into her chest, sending her flying against a wall and shattering her Reinforcement. With a strangled scream, the disoriented girl slammed down into the ground back-first, idly aware of how her HP was down into the red.

Was it because of the critical hit she just received combined with the crash damage? Or was it because her power had an unexpected drawback? Either way, it didn't matter now: She was completely open, her mind was still reeling from what she had half-remembered and Detonator was already rushing towards her, his axe descending with deadly precision to cut her body in twain without any care for…

"Are you an idiot?!"

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

CLANG!

"…huh?"

"Like, seriously Sinon…I'm not someone that goes around insulting others without reason, but what the hell?!" growling as he kept the oversized battle-axe above his head using his crossed blades, Kirito, having somehow moved so fast and with such strength Sinon didn't think it was possible for any 'normal' Player to achieve, glared down at her with clear annoyance, though not fully able to mask his worry. "Sure, you're good with those swords, but why the hell would you try and melee-fight an enemy you can safely one-shot with any of your overpowered ranged attacks?!"

"I-I…" mumbled the Archer with clear shock, even as her eyes took on the state of the battlefield as her mind finally started recovering from her earlier shock.

Mochi was angrily 'wrestling' with 3 Kobold Sentinels all by himself, the Fellbeast angrily biting on the head of one of the humanoid creatures and starting to shake it from side to side like it was a chew toy. Not far from it, Mater and Koharu were double-teaming another of the creatures (Telling him 3 more had spawned because she had annihilated one of the Boss' HP bars, most likely) with perfect synchronization, while Lind and Coper kept the last one uselessly running in circles as they tore at its HP with hit-and-run tactics.

Philia, though, was a sight to behold. With a shout, the girl in the sinister armor HIT the last Kobold Sentinel aside as if it was a doll, the elite monster being sent flying like a soccer ball and shattering into polygons against the wall, even as the Lady of the Ring angrily shot towards the Kobold Lord and rammed her blade on its back. As she clearly intended, this forced it to stop trying to smash Kirito and proceed to crazily try to shake her off, letting the black-haired boy breathe and quickly rush to her side, letting go of one of his blades to help her to her feet.

"Are you okay?"

"I…ye-yes, I think so." dumbly answered Sinon, feeling her breath caught in her throat at the uncanny serious look in his face and the worried way in which he held her, his voice sounding unusually (From what little she had seen of him at least) commanding.

"Okay, then rest for now. I don't know what just happened to you, but we can talk about it after that oversized lizard-dog is dead." nodding with a mix of relief and determination, the gamer spun around and jumped forward as his blades ignited with the light of a Skill, just as Philia was finally forced to let go of Detonator after he tried to bash his back against the closest wall. "Hey, Illfang's stupidly-named brother! Nobody tries to kill my friends on my watch! **Starburst Stream!** "

Caught off-guard by the absurdly fast and powerful Unique Skill, given he had just been staring at the orange-haired girl to try and enact revenge for her surprise attack, the Area Boss could barely raise his shield in time to eat most of Kirito's furious slashes, all Hits of the Skill being half-blocked and devastating what remained of his second HP bar, the last impact actually cracking the imposing-looking buckler.

Frozen in the scant seconds of his post-Skill cooldown, Kirito grunted internally, eyeing the average-if-workable blade he currently wielded along his Elder Emperor. He _really_ needed to get Liz a rare material or something to forge him a blade good enough to replace Eluci…

"ROAAARRRR!"

Screaming in animal rage, Detonator threw both his weapons aside, axe and cracked buckler exploding dramatically into polygons as he reached on his back and raised the titanic, deadly-looking and sharp 'teeth'-filled weapon that, somehow, the system still acknowledged as a katana.

And the black-haired boy only knew this because the monster's blade shone as he started jumping in another eerily familiar pattern, like some kangaroo from fell, rebounding off the walls and even the ceiling as it sought to kill him. Philia would have immediately jumped to his aid, if it wasn't because the last 3 Kobold Sentinels spawned at that same moment and jumped the Lady of the Ring, making her shout in anger and worry as the Kobold Lord descended to end the helpless gam…!

Kirito sidestepped with a deadpan, letting the Area Boss' blade slam harmlessly on the floor just at his side, Detonator frozen in his own post-Skill cooldown with something akin to a _'…eh?'_ -expression on his face.

"And THAT is why recolor Bosses suck…and they do so doubly so if they're in a game where memorizing their patterns _actually_ means you can avoid almost everything they do." sighed Kirito as his blades shone with deadly power. " **The Eclipse**."

He may not have any stupidly overpowered abilities or weird equipment come straight out of some crazy fictional setting, but, within the average limitations of Sword Art Online, the black-haired boy of the silver cloak was still the Strongest Player around.

A point-blank attack of the strongest and longest known Sword Skill in the entire game on an unprotected enemy's flank? Even an Area Boss as Detonator the Kobold Lord couldn't prevent from suffering damage so critical it was basically a step away from death once the Dual Blades Skill was over. Screaming in rage, the monster raised his 'katana' upwards, aiming to end the gamer for daring to have done that to him _again_.

And yet, Kirito was not afraid in the slightest. Because even if Philia hadn't just finished pummeling the shit out of the Sentinels that had tried to take her down, and her followers and 'pet' hadn't just dealt with their own enemies and started rushing to her aid (Even if it was unneeded)…the boy already knew…

"Hey, you overweight dog." called out an annoyed voice, causing Detonator to freeze as his limited AI detected a deadly threat and made him spin around to face it.

…that _she_ had finished recovering as he was halfway-done with his Skill.

"Forgot about me?" questioned Sinon as she raised a newly projected pair of Kanshou and Bakuya, something angry and fierce burning within her as she crossed both blades at her sides and intoned a single line, filled with esoteric power. " _I'm the Bone of my Sword…_ "

"…what did she just say?" asked Coper with clear confusion.

"I…think that was…English?" ventured Philia while the scantily-clad girl rushed towards the roaring Kobold Lord.

For a moment, her gaze crossed with Kirito's, fresh out of his cooldown time and with his swords ready to attack, but making no move to finish off the Area Boss.

Somehow, his own eyes seemed to ask… _'Can you finish what you started?'_

Gritting her teeth, pushing everything she had just remembered down, the Archer had just one answer.

" _Overedge._ "

Like flowers blooming, the married blades in her hands 'expanded', their length doubling and their entire surface 'cracking' like the scales of a beast…or the feathers of a bird's wings.

Just as the glowing 'katana' descended, Sinon swung both wing-like blades forward, the clash of weapons making her own shatter…into deadly explosive 'shrapnel', which tore apart huge chunks of Detonator's sword and body.

There was nothing amazing or worthy as the paralyzed Boss shattered into polygons, almost as if to point out how much of a disappointment it had been. However, the scantily-clad girl collapsed to her knees just as the ' _Congratulations!_ ' message appeared, panting for unneeded breath as several people rushed to her side.

She wasn't even surprised when Kirito was the first one to reach her, leaning on him as much as she could as he helped her to her feet and whispered soothing words to her ear as she all but hugged his side.

It should have bothered her, showing herself so weak, so needy…but, at that moment, she didn't really care.

"It's okay, Sinon…I'm here" whispered the black-haired boy while rubbing her back. "What happened?"

"…I think I remembered…finally remembered something." mumbled the Archer while looking straight into his eyes.

"…and?"

"…I think I may…have some brain damage or something."

Given the wide-eyed and open-mouthed expressions on the two players and four Hollows' faces, that was probably the last thing they were waiting to hear…

* * *

"Okay then…the Labyrinth is beyond that small fishing village." casually commented Lisbeth…as she swung the golden tonfa in her left hand and turned the feral-looking ghost trying to kill her into polygonal gore. "Let's get this done and get back already!"

"Yeah, luckily we have more than enough Teleport Crystals to return immediately without being wasteful…" chimed in Sachi while she thrust the golden 'spear' (More like a trident) in her hand forward, annihilating the trio of spirit mobs that were trying to flank her. "…also, woah, these weapons _are_ broken!"

"To an absurdly unfair level, yup!" chirped Lux as she swung a golden blade down, turning another ghost into nothing and also vaporizing the one behind it. "Man, even if Asuna never gets used to using them, she can be the ultimate Support by lending them around!"

"Well…it's also a good alternative when she gets completely useless like this." sighed Argo while casually swatting the legendary nunchaku she was wielding, then stabbing with her free psi-blade, against a specter trying to get the drop on her and the shaking golden-clad figure that clung to her leg, eyes closed. "Seriously, Aa-chan, you're wearing such a broken piece of equipment I doubt anything sans an overpowered Boss can even scratch you…how can you still completely lose it just because of some stupid ghost mobs?"

"Can't deal…n-no matter what you say, I just can't deal with ghosts!" wailed Asuna while refusing to open her eyes until someone assured her all the spirits were gone. "Be-besides, I don't want to hear that from you, Miss I-am-deadly-afraid-of-puppies!"

"GAH! Tha-that's different…ghosts don't exist so fearing them is pointless! However, dogs are a true horror that pretends to be Man's Best Friend just to stalk us from the shadows!" rambled the whiskered girl with a haunted look as she tightly gripped the golden weapon in her hand. "But they won't get me here…they can't…ever…!"

"…well…I guess everyone is afraid to have their own fears…right?" sweatdropped Sachi while everyone stared at the two girls.

"I mean, I can kinda get them, I myself hate water…though I don't get to the extreme they do…" mumbled Leafa with embarrassment while floating to the side, casually using one of her wings to murder the ghost mob trying to escape the clearly one-sided slaughter.

"I…well, I'm not the biggest fan of dark places…" muttered Lisbeth while looking to the side, though a blush and a smile appeared on her face immediately. _"Unless it's one I'm alone with Kirito at~"_

"For me, it was being alone…but now that fear means nothing! I have Kirito-san and everyone, after all!" happily cheered Silica while stroking Pina's head and looking fondly at her dear friends/family.

"During my childhood, I quite despised wasps." added Kizmel with a small frown. "I couldn't easily distinguish them from bees back then and they usually turned an endeavor to find some fresh honey into a nightmare…"

"I can't remember any fear as extreme as those, but me and Eiji-kun used to hate a graffiti depicting an ugly demon-thing on the wall near our neighborhood when we were little…" grimacing at the childish memory, Yuna was quick to turn around and look at the suddenly most silent member of their lively group, hit with a curious need of knowing more about the mysterious girl. "What about you, Strea-san? Any deep-rooted fears you wanna confess?"

"…something I'm afraid of…?"

 _Releasing a sound out of this world, the terrible abomination towered above the players, seeking to end them with its many limbs, ready to tear them apart with bloody madness, its only purpose to preserve the corrupted world it had been born from, their lives no longer mattering to **her** programming…_

"…Strea-san? Are you okay?" worriedly asked Sachi upon seeing how serious she suddenly looked, the songstress at their side panicking and waving her hands quickly.

"I-I was just joking, you don't need to answer! Sorry if I brought up something umplea…!"

"…heh, nah, it's fine, Yuna! Sorry if I scared you, I just got a bit lost in thought." chuckled Strea while sticking out her tongue, any previous trace of her grim face vanishing as if they had never been there. "To be honest, I can't think of anything to be deeply scared of…except maybe that people would reject me! I do love being surrounded by wonderful people as you all are, after all!"

"Heh, well, that's what friends are for, right? To help you and make you smile!" smiled Lux while walking up to Asuna and collapsing the borrowed golden sword as she put it back on the older girl's armor, then helped her scared self and the paranoid Argo out of their funk.

"…friends?" asked the surprised Hunter while looking at the girls around her. "You consider me…your friend?"

"Uhm…should we not?" asked a confused Silica while tilting her head, her loyal Elder Feathery Dragon mimicking the action.

"Sure we do! I mean, you're crazy weird, Yui-chan loves when you take her out for a walk, you're hanging out with us like it's the most normal thing in the world, and you're clearly very into Kirito too…" listed off Lisbeth as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, ignoring the looks almost everyone gave her upon mentioned the last one, even as Strea blushed cutely and grinned. "Unless you don't want to be friends with us…?"

"N-no…actually…I would love to be friends with you all!" shouted the red-eyed girl with unbridled joy, throwing her arms in the air and jumping in place, somehow perfectly balancing the two massive weapons on her back to not have her trip as she did so, and earning a brief but hateful look from Silica aimed at her chest during the action. "Yay! This is the best day ever! I can't wait to…!"

"HE-HEEEEEELP!"

The sudden scream of horror interrupted Strea and caught everyone off guard, heads turning to the side in surprise in time to see a terrified blonde and purple-eyed man rushing towards them as if the Devil himself was chasing him.

He wore mostly white and fancy-looking armor and clothes, coupled with a deadly and powerful-looking red one-handed sword, whose tip seemed to be shaped like an arrowhead, but none of it seemed to matter as he rushed through the road like a complete amateur that had never run in anything but a flat surface in his whole life, tripping a couple times until he finally fell to the floor and started crawling forward, the total horror never leaving his face.

Deciding to ignore the incongruence between his apparent equipment/level (Given he was right there on the Front Lines) and his skill, the girls of Unison Heart (Plus Yuna) rushed forward to his aid, Asuna reaching his side first and all but pulling the mess of a man to his feet.

"Hey, are you okay?! What's wrong?!"

"E-eh…? The Golden Saint of Li…no, Asuna?!" squeaked the terrified man with wide eyes, taking a step back from the confused chestnut-haired girl as he let go of his blade and grabbed the sides of his head. "Gods, have I finally lost it?! Gah! This was a mis-mistake! I need to get OUT of this nightmarish game!"

"…do I know you from somewhere?" frowned the 'Gold Saint' as she looked the man over, not really recognizing him but still finding something annoyingly familiar in his voice and demeanor.

It was at that moment that the rest of her friends reached the pair, Strea suddenly freezing while her eyes darted to the path where the man had come from just as Sachi's gaze shot to her side, as if something had stopped her from moving forward.

"Night Kitty…?"

"Girls…watch out. Something is coming."

As if those words were magic waiting to happen, several humanoid _things_ came stumbling forward from somewhere just out of sight, causing the blonde man to scream and hide behind Asuna.

Thrice as tall as a human adult, with grayish-blue skin and fungus-like tumors instead of heads, not to mention clawed limbs that were way too long, their arms almost dragging through the ground. And that was without taking into account the eerie echoing noises they were all making, like some maddened chant that threatened to dig within the girls' minds…

"Wha…what are those things?!" demanded Lisbeth while taking a step back, gripping the tonfa she had borrowed from Asuna so hard it would have hurt her if SAO allowed such a thing.

"M-my men! They're my men!" screamed the blonde man as the dozen of abominations started zeroing on them, walking forward at a slow but sinisterly unstoppable pace. "W-we were gonna head for the town whe-when one complained about not feeling good a-and then…then they all turned into THOSE things! M-my name is, uhm, Alberich, he-help me!"

"Living Failures…" whispered Strea with a shiver as she unsheathed her Holy Moonlight Sword and swiped her open palm over the blade, letting it change back into its shining true form, "Everyone, stand back! Those things are not…!"

A burst of bullets shot forward and peppered the closest 'Living Failure', making the abomination stagger back in shock and apparent pain. Eyes narrowed, Leafa's machine cannons kept spinning, even as the girl idly noticed how it became easier to compensate for recoil and stabilize with her wings every time.

"Seems like they can still die the same as any normal mob."

"Indeed, these creatures are nowhere as terrifying as the one that almost killed me." declared Kizmel while her eyes shone with esoteric power and the air seemed to spin around her, fire burning in her hands. "Let's show them we have gone through much worse than them."

"Ye-yes, kill those things! Pro-protect me!" squeaked Alberich as he continued hiding behind the golden-clad girl.

Pina roared in approval while everyone readied their own/borrowed weapons, Strea grinning as she readied her massive blade to…!

"WAIT! STOP!" shouted Asuna with a sharp tone, making the group look at her in shock even as she turned around to grab the terrified man's shoulders. "You! You just said those things were _your men_ , right?! What did you mean with that?!"

"I-I…they just…they turned into those things and went crazy, why are you asking?! Kill them already!" demanded the clearly out-of-it stranger, though idly realizing he couldn't break free from the girl's grasp, not noticing how everyone was suddenly looking from the monsters to him in pale shock. "Ho-how are you this strong?! This account has Levels and Stats of the highest degree, yo-you shouldn't…!"

"…oh Gods, you're Sugou Nobuyuki, aren't you?" groaned Asuna with clear disgust, idly noticing the way the man's eyes widened as she threw him to the ground, ignoring the confused looks from her friends to pin him down under her armored boot. "I knew something about you felt familiar, but the way in which you just shouted that…it's the same way you did it at the men slacking off at dad's 4 years ago when I visited…"

"Yo-you…can remember such a thing?!"

"Thank my mom, she's the one that made me be the perfect student with the top-tier memory…and you just say those things are actual people, right? Do you even know what happens when you die in this game?!" pushing the man aside, the chestnut-haired girl spun around just in time to raise her right arm's shield and block the a attack of glowing bluish energy one of the 'Living Failures' had just shot, which splashed harmlessly against the golden metal even as everyone tensed. "Dammit…girls, we need to restrain them somehow! If we kill them…"

"N-no…that's…" mumbled a suddenly very pale Leafa, sealing her machine cannons again and lowering the beam saber she had just taken out.

"Fuck…" backing away as she looked worriedly at her friends, Lisbeth bit her lips, suddenly unsure of what to do. "How are we even supposed to stop those things if we can't…?"

"I got them!" screamed Kizmel as she slammed her hands on the ground, the earth shooting upwards and catching the 6 abominations in dirt-cages…which shattered almost instantly as they tore through them or just shot more of that corrupted energy. "Dammit! Cursed humans or not, these things are way stronger than the average monster! Are you sure we shouldn't…?!"

"N-no, wait, Kizmel-san…and you too, Pina!" ordered Silica as her draconic partner looked about to unleash lighting when the monsters got closer, biting her lips. "W-we can't just murder…!"

One of the Living Failures suddenly _blurred_ forward, the unexpected speed catching them off-guard as the creature reached over Pina's side and towards Silica, its massive limb looking to crush the surprised young girl…before it was cut off with a burst of slicing moonlight, making it screech in pain and stagger backward, only to be furiously knocked back by a rushing Asuna's shield-bash.

Eyes wide, Silica turned to Strea, who was standing before the Elder Feathery Dragon with a somber look, her blade looking as if it would have sliced through the abomination if the golden-clad girl hadn't pushed it aside.

"Strea…san…?"

"…are you okay, Silica?"

"I-I am, but…you just…"

She had almost killed that thing. That man. A person. A living breathing human being.

When she had been created…when the MCHCPs were programmed, their very first primary directive was that they 'Could not, in any way, shape, or form, entertain the thought of causing either physical or psychological harm of any kind to a human.' Such a thing went against the logic they were supposed to run by, after all.

But…just now, she…

 _"If any of them died, the rest would be devastated…HE would never forgive himself, even if it hadn't been his fault…ah…that's it, isn't it? I don't mind become a 'monster'…if it means they're safe…truly, all I want is…"_

At that moment, back in Arc Sophia's inn, Yui stopped her interesting activity of testing the limit of Agil's nerves by spouting randomness non-stop, her eyes suddenly shifting upwards, towards the ceiling, the upper Floors, something within them shifting expectantly.

 _"…to protect **his** smile."_

"Strea, you…" started to say Asuna, before the busty red-eyed girl simply walked past her, her blade raised over her shoulders and looking ready to slash once again. "Wha…?!"

"Stay back, Asuna, all of you…I will take care of them. It's my… _job_ , after all."

"Bu-but…you will…!"

"I know. And I don't mind…I will carry that weight for all of you." simply answered the AI before she raised her blade again. "Now, it's my time to join the hu…!"

"NIGHT KITTY, GO!"

Sachi rushed past Strea just as she was about to _Quicken_ forward, shocking her as she slammed the borrowed golden spear down, cracking the ground just as the Living Failures moved forward, in _just_ the needed way for the creatures to comically trip over themselves and fall down thanks to their deformed bodies. Then, an invisible force brutally forced them together, arms, legs and even tails wrapping around the 6 abominations and holding them in place, Sachi screaming as she put all of her mental strength into the action.

"Holy…!"

"Sa-Sachi?!"

"Wa-way to go, Sacchin! Ju-just keep them in there, until we…hey, you, the blonde jerk who Asuna somehow knows! How do we turn them back to normal?!"

"I-I don't fucking know?! Why are you asking me?! Ju-just kill them and be done with it!"

"N-no…as long as we can still do something…anything at all…that doesn't involve doing this…none of us is going to go down that route! Not even you, Strea! We're all friends here…we have to do everything we can for each other!" shouted Sachi as she used the Spear of Libra as a crutch, doing her best to continue standing, the effort of making sure Night Kitty _didn't_ kill the abominations being higher than anything she had ever make it do. "S-so please…hang in there…!"

"Bu-but…Sachi…!" mumbled the Hunter with wide and teary eyes, feeling something inside her virtual chest coil tightly at the selflessness before her. "There is no other way to…!"

"…let me try it!" suddenly declared Yuna as she rushed forward, shocking everyone as she raised her lute on the spear-user's side and got ready. "One of my Chant Skills can lift Negative Statuses; maybe it will help these guys!"

"Yu-Yuna, I don't want to discourage you, but this seems a bit more serious than a simple Status Effect!"

"Maybe so! But I won't know unless I try!" declared the girl as she started playing, opening her mouth to sing…

 ** _-USE ME-_**

…and stopping dead in her tracks, feeling something pulsating at her side. Then, almost as if she already knew what to do, she reached out, for the 'fossilized'-looking microphone that had dropped from the remains of the monster Asuna killed the last day.

She had been carrying it around on herself instead of in the inventory as a good luck charm, a reminder of another of their miraculous victories, especially after finding out it apparently could do nothing at all, but…now…

"Yuna-chi?! What are you doing?!" demanded Argo when she saw the songstress lower her lute and bring out the relic-like instrument.

"I…I can do this! I know I can! Believe in me, girls!" shouted Yuna while raising the mic for an instant before bringing it to her lips. At the same time, Strea's eyes widened, her gaze shooting to the microphone and feeling the crystalized corrupted data for what it was.

If that thing made contact with the girl's avatar, then…!

"Yuna, don't, you will…!"

Night Kitty, or more like Sachi, finally seemed to reach the limit at that moment, the Living Failures getting free just as Yuna started singing and the strange instrument started shining. Prioritizing, the Hunter spun around, slashing a beam of moonlight towards the ground and making the monsters trip, if only for an instant. However, they would be up and ready to rush at them the next second, and the spear-user had fallen to her knees exhausted, clearly unable to re-summon her spirit so soon.

And that's when someone released a battle cry and a golden shield spun through the air, hitting every single one of the abominations in the head, somehow the legendary weapon bouncing off the creatures with almost millimetric precision and throwing them over themselves as if they were ragdolls, then back towards its owner.

Stupefied, everyone but the songstress turned to look as Asuna caught her shield, a fierce but curious expression on her face as she blinked and looked down at it.

"Huh…who would have thought, it worked just like in that American Superhero movie I watched with Onii-sama when I was little…" mumbled the golden-clad girl with a bit of awe.

"…Aa-chan, how the hell…? Did you just…use the Shield of Libra to casually rip-off Captain Am…?"

"YUNA!"

Strea's scream had been the clear sign she was the first to recover from the unexpected event, gazes moving to see her trying to reach the shining and ever-singing oldest (Human) girl amongst them, her entire avatar now shining as corrupted data seemed to bleed over from the mic in her hands.

Even as she felt the pulse of the corruption trying to reach and awaken the one inside her, the AI didn't stop moving forward, intent on at least touching Yuna, to drain the corruption into herself if needed.

She would be dammed if she let one of her new friends, someone Kirito cared for, to die on her wa…!

 _"It's okay…it's okay."_

The former MHCP-002's eyes opened to their limits in shock, feeling the words somehow reaching her, and everyone else's, ears despite the fact that the songstress never stopped singing.

 _"Because, this song…I know this song can save them. Because…it's a song I made for us…for me…and for him!"_

A long 'line' of pinkish light shot from the microphone's outline, almost seeming to dance around the girl's body as it pulsated with a beautiful glow.

Somehow, everyone could have sworn that they started hearing music to follow the lyrics Yuna was singing, despite no instruments being around for her. And then, just as her song reached its peak…

" _…Tameshiterunda boku o…Catch the Moment!_ "

…something impossible happened, Strea's mental processor screeching to a halt for a moment as she saw and FELT the corrupted data being purified instantly, then reforming around the girl as the shining effect became blinding before shattering, Yuna emerging from the light like a completely new person.

Her hair was now so long it reached all the way to her hips, of a silvery white that was even more radiant than Lux's, with a pair of semi-spherical objects, from which colorful red ribbons hung, floating at her head's sides. Her white and blue clothes were gone, replaced instead for a darker, if still quite vivid, and revealing outfit, black, red and purple in color, making her seem like some idol straight out of a fantasy anime.

Spinning on place she continued singing, the girl's eyes finally opened, showing they were now the same shade of red as Strea's. Never hesitating, the transformed girl continued singing with all her soul into her now pristine-new-looking microphone, its glowing pink 'tail' dancing around her as her song continued.

Almost immediately, everyone present gasped, even 'Alberich' looking down in confusion as more Positive Statuses than any of them could count appeared over their HP bars. Argo was pretty sure most of them couldn't even be granted by anything but rare items, and a lot she didn't recognize Strea knew had been removed from the game during its Testing Phase, before even the Beta began, as they supposedly could potentially break the game balance. The everyone's HP had temporarily doubled, they had gotten 50% Defense Buffs against any kind of damage, a 40% Reduction on Sword Skill cooldown time, and more similar things, were a clear example of why.

And at the same time, the Living Failures froze, the creatures starting to scream and thrash around, their forms shifting and seemingly starting to 'rot', pieces of data starting to fall off their bodies. Roaring, one of them tried to shoot arcane energy straight towards Yuna while other tried to rush against her, only for Lux to slash the blast in half with her sword while Pina slammed head-first against the charging one, Silica screaming from its back.

Hurricane winds forced the others back as they kept falling apart, Kizmel grinning with relieved serenity, as if the unexpected event was something she was more than used to by now. Sachi couldn't help but look on in awe even as Lisbeth helped her to her feet and asked if she was okay, Asuna walking past them and wordlessly retrieving her borrowed spear.

There was no denying the satisfied smirk on the chestnut-haired girl's face as she stopped beside the dumbfounded Strea as they saw the abominations finally falling apart, revealing 6 unconscious men in high-level gear, all of them twitching slightly and having slightly horrified expressions…but alive.

"…how?" mumbled the AI with utter disbelief, only to receive a gentle pat on the shoulder by a golden-clad hand.

"Honestly? At this point, I have stopped questioning it and just going with the flow…but, be it for good or bad, I really like to think there is nothing we can't do if we try without surrendering until the very end." smiled Asuna as she turned towards the now panting songstress, who looked exhausted but satisfied. "Fantastic job, Yuna…that was a beautiful song."

"Heh…thanks, Asuna…I call it _'Catch the Moment'_. If I ever become an idol for real, it's going to be my best song…" chuckled Yuna as she started falling, only for the Golden Saint and the Hunter to grab her before she did. "…I have no doubt."

"…am I the only one who is even the slightest bit curious of how she just _Henshin_ -ed into some sort of Super Vocaloid or something? Yes? Okay, just checking." sighing as she put her shadowy cloak up, Argo turned off her psi-blades and smiled as she walked closer to the now gathering and celebrating group, casually returning Asuna her golden tonfa as she did so. "Well…should we round up those guys to ask what the hell were they doing here and where they came from?"

"That would be for the best, yeah…but we can get answers much faster." nodded the golden-clad girl as she turned a glare towards a certain spot. "Just how did you and these guys get in SAO, Sugo…eh?! Where did he go?!"

Turning around, all the girls were surprised to see that, effectively, Alberich has vanished without a trace, leaving them alone with his incapacitated subordinates.

At the same time, down at Arc Sophia's Teleport Gate, a blinking Kirito had just appeared and was helping a worried-looking Sinon to stand. For a moment, though, his gaze had been distracted by a familiar new pop-up from his 'powers'.

 **[Special Event: 'Ordinal Idol' has been cleared! 'Loving Chant' Skill can now be freely activated!]**

 **[Loving Chant] (Active Skill/Max Heroine Skill): Allows you to sing like a pro in a way that can enchant the hearts of even the hardest girls, making easier to seduce them! (Females actually talented at singing get an even bigger Interest Bonus)**

 **[Congratualtions! You and Heroine Yuuna are now Perfectly Synchronized! Your Bond is so strong you will be able to tell what the other wants without even thinking!]**

 _"…I wonder what did I miss this time?"_ thought the black-haired boy as he helped the distressed girl to get back to the Inn.

He would have to ask the girls later anyway. It had been quite a tiring day in several ways…

* * *

It was later that day, just as the sun had set, that Sinon twisted in her bed for the umpteenth time, deciding that she just wasn't gonna be able to fall asleep and groaning as she stood up, hugging a pillow to her body as she wandered through the inn's halls without seemingly any destination in mind as her thoughts were a continuous mess.

Half-remembered memories that made everything even more confusing, the awareness that something foreign that all but been burned straight into her memory through unknown means, the fear that her brain may have been damaged for it all…

Just what the hell was she supposed to do? What had she done to deserve this? And…would remembering everything really help her? Or was she better off not knowing at this point, remaining ignorant of whatever her past had been like?

Who was 'Asada Shino' that Sinon felt it was better to remain the amnesiac and strangely powerful Archer was safer…?

Stopping dead in her tracks, the dark-haired girl realized she had arrived before a certain door. Unable to believe her mind had somehow brought her there, she felt her cheeks heat up fiercely, her grip in the pillow turning brutal and a faint impulse of Tracing a sword almost overtaking her, before taking a deep breath and knocking on the door twice.

Kirito was certainly very confused upon opening and seeing her, of all people, standing there. Given what she _knew_ had been going on in his room the past nights, that was no surprise, though it certainly made her embarrassment and mortification increase tenfold.

"Uhm…Sinon…?"

"I can't sleep. Everything from before is…just…can we talk?"

"…of course. Feel right at home." Smiled the black-haired boy as he let her inside, closing the door behind them.

Watching from the other end of the hallway, Strea let a small smile appear on her face before sauntering away, having just checked her 'big sister' was sound sleep on top of a troubled-looking Leafa's chest (The virtual girl having mentioned something about big pillows).

All in due time, after all.

Within the room, for the first time in many nights, nothing but silence and the occasional short sentence could be heard as both teens sat on the bed, Kirito never dropping his understanding smile even as he held the unusually trembling Sinon, until she finally dropped her pillow and hugged him instead, sobbing slightly as he soothingly promised her everything would be fine.

And she believed her, for some reason she couldn't understand. Nevertheless, that was more than enough for her, finally drifting off to sleep in his arms, dreams of a hill filled with swords awaiting her.

Making sure she was comfortable in the bed, the gamer hesitated for a moment before lying at her side and letting her continue her hug. Somehow, he was sure this was all she needed, and he was more than happy to give it to her.

 **[You gained 50 Affection Points with Heroine Shino!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Interesting Partners' has been maxed! Upgraded to 'Most Trusted One'!]**

Even as the boy named Kirigaya Kazuto in reality drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face and a girl safe in his arms, the man known as Sugou Nobuyuki, or 'Alberich' in the avatar he had created using his Super Account, was cursing everything under the sky on the place at which he had Teleported earlier, several Floors above the current Front Line.

Nothing was going as he planned! He had it all figured out before, all he would do was hack into the Cardinal System the moment SAO was cleared to take Asuna and several survivors as test subjects for his experiments, fast and easy…

Except that the game hadn't been Cleared that day he and his men had logged in upon detected the weird spike of data, thinking the time had finally come…only for a bunch of Errors and corrupted data to occupy their screens and 'suck' them in. By the time they had come back to their senses, they were in Aincrad, trapped like everybody else.

However, not all had been lost…by some lucky star, his Super Account still worked, because the system that ran SAO was the same one upon which it ran back in Alfheim Online. Even if they still couldn't Log Out, generating top-tier equipment and avatars for him and his men with that had been easy thanks to it. All they would need to do was join the so-called 'Front Lines', spy on the players up there, and take advantage of the Death Game to realize his experiment anyway while the other fools continued working to free them all…

But then…whatever the hell THAT had been, happened. The whispers, the strange and nonsensical sounds, his men starting to scream and talk about voices beyond the cosmos and old blood and beasts…before turning into those things.

Now, he was alone, with his meddlesome fiancée (And Asuna was much _fiercer_ than he remembered the silent and well-behaved girl ever being) having most likely already warned everyone about him to some degree, even if neither she nor her friends knew his true intentions.

Should he just hide until everything ended? Try and find a way out for himself? Yeah, that seemed like the most appealing option. Besides, even if things had gone wrong, he was still someone with nigh-absolute power in that world! Nothing could scare him nor deter him…he could do whatever he wanted!

Laughing after finally calming down, the man reached up to bring up his account's GM Menu, ready to…

 ** _LetuscleansethesefoulstreetsMaythegoodbloodguideyourwayBlessuswithbloodAhunterisneveraloneSeektheoldblood_**

"GAAAAH!" screamed Alberich as he grabbed his head in pain, feeling the countless voices whispering straight into his brain. "What the hell is…?!…uh?"

Freezing, the blond man finally realized he wasn't alone anymore.

All around him, there were…little girls. Over a dozen of them, clad in black dresses, with long lavender hair that partially covered glowing red eyes, a pair of jet-black horns growing from the side of their heads.

All of them were barefoot, and all of them were smiling creepily at him.

 **"Dontdothat."**

 **"Bad."**

 **"Shouldntmesswiththisworld."**

 **"Worthless."**

 **"NoplaceforyouintheWakingWorld."**

 **"Letsplay~"**

"Wha-what the…? Who are you?! S-stay back! STAY BACK!" screamed Alberich with utter horror, feeling the little girl's voices searing right into his mind as he swung his overpowered sword at the closest one.

A sign of 'Immortal Object' was his reward, barely having enough time to understand it before the little girl was gripping into his arm, still smiling. Then, another grabbed his back, and another pair his legs. Then, his other arm…and that's when he realized the creepy 'kids' seemed to be…'melting' into his avatar, as if absorbing him…

Unperturbed, the Cardinal System heard Sugou Nobuyuki's demented screams and shouts about a red-blood moon with passing curiosity and a parody of satisfaction as the rest of the former MHCPs, all of them still under its control, finish reforming and neutralizing the intruder that had attempted to usurp its creator's authority. Casually, he let an unusual amount of Corrupted Data, around thirty times more than it had done for the other intruders, flow into human's avatar, not even paying attention to how it changed before turning its warped attention elsewhere.

More and more systems were collapsing and being corrupted, after all. Aincrad's survival had to be ensured, one way or another.

There were smiles to protect, after all…

* * *

 **[Arc 3: Special Heroine Events]-END**

* * *

 **[Next Scene]** : Evil Kings and Dark Princesses

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** And that's done :3 A minute of silence for Sugou (Pfft, as if!), who…probably wishes he was dead now XP

Kirito isn't having 'fun' with anyone at the end this time, but well, I think Sinon-chan deserved some nice cuddly time with all the mind-fuckery going on in her head. For those that don't know, I mixed some of the actual background we get for her in Hollow Fragment about her arrival to SAO, my personal interpretation to fill out the gaps in knowledge/logic of that, and The Eroge's exclusive 'changes' caused by the butterfly effect of Kirito's powers :)

Speaking of such changes, Sugou and his gang ended up receiving a dosage of their own medicine in quite a twisted way…then again, brainwashing someone is probably harder than just make them go crazy by jamming Bloodborne lore straight into their brains, but oh well…

Finally, it's Yuuna's time to shine too! In case it wasn't obvious, her avatar basically changed into Ordinal Scale AI's Yuna looks. I was thinking long and hard, back when thinking about the 'temporary power-ups' for this part of the story, and this was the one that fit the most in my mind. Then again, the idea was inspired by me replaying AWvsSAO and the way the character was used there, so I can't take all the credit. Here in Eroge, though, think of her as the literal ultimate support…with Asuna closely behind, because let's be honest, when no BS plot-convenience is forbidding you from using and lending the Libra Weapons around, things get very crazy :P

Also, for those that played the game it should be obvious, but we're just about to get into the 'meat' of the Hollow Area storyline now. Get ready for 'shocking reveals' next time on that front…unless, again, you played the game. Then you're only looking forward to how my personal brand of madness has changed things XP

More important things to take from this chapter: You really shouldn't engage an enemy in melee if you have a ranged attack that will utterly destroy them without putting yourself on anyone else at risk (Luckily NOBODY ever does that in fiction, eh OwO?). And recolored enemies always suck, no matter what new gimmicks or powers they get...especially if they totally follow the pattern of their original template in some way :P Finally...Asuna throwing her shield like Cap, because Endgame was awesome!

Okay then, that's all for now, except for a small announcement: I have decided to open a Poll on my profile to let you all vote if I should Update the last chapters of Lusus Naturae one after another, as those reading it may now I was thinking about, because not only it's right at its end (2 chapters and a short Interlude in between), but also because all of them would be heavy cliffhangers. Go vote now, you have until next chapter is up to let me know if you wish for that and temporarily delay OPG and this for it!

Until then, though, this is Saint, signing off!

…though on second though, before that, enjoy something I decided to ACTUALLY write down on a whim! I'm sure all fans of Jojo Bizarre Adventures will enjoy it :P!

* * *

 **Stand Name:** 'Night Kitty'.

 **User:** Hayami Saori/Sachi

 **Type:** Close-ranged Stand

 **Stats**

Destructive Power = **B**

Speed = **B**

Range = **C**

Durability = **B**

Precision = **C**

Developmental Potential = **?**

 **Stand Abilities**

 _Superhuman Speed/Strength/Reflexes_ : Night Kitty possesses speed and power that surpasses that of humans by an immense degree. When not holding back, it's easily able to take down and match hits with Bosses that would easily be able to crush cars or tear through steel if they existed in reality (Its claws are also sharper than most swords within SAO). It's also fast enough to surpass the swings of even the fastest Front Liners. Its reflexes also greatly surpass those of Sachi, though it can't take full advantage of them because of being limited by its User's Will.

 _Limited Self-awareness:_ The Stand doesn't have an actual consciousness, but it has enough of a Will on its own to prioritize protecting its user. Thanks to this, Night Kitty will move to try and use its power to keep Sachi out of harm's way by counterattacking immediate threats to her, moving along with her own actions by instinct (Like materializing to widen the range of a 'hug' she's giving), catching her if she trips or even activating its Ability without her conscious thought.

 _Luck Bringer:_ Night Kitty possesses the Passive Ability of 'positively altering minor events bound by Probability' on its User's favor. In simple terms, this allows the Stand User to have an unusual degree of 'good luck' in countless minor but critical aspects of her every action (Getting more and rarer drops from mobs within VR, always landing a hit that could have failed, shifting minor aspects of combat always in the User's favor, making sure a dropped toast always lands on the side without jam, etc). While this is technically a form of Reality Manipulation, it's so minor and limited that its User can still very much be fully affected by the whims of Fate (Example: It won't stop a bullet aimed straight at her head from hitting her after having been shot, it won't let her win the lottery every time she plays it, it won't make an upcoming rainy day into a sunny one just because she wanted to go to the beach…). However, if Sachi was able to fully understand and control this ability, the limits of the things she could do through the use of the so-called Butterfly Effect are unknown…


	16. Scene 15: Evil Kings and Dark Princesses

Hello everyone! I'm back!

Apologies for the LONG delay…if you have been following my other stories, you will know quite a few reasons: External factors making the end of Lusus Naturae take longer than it should have, small writer block and such with OPG, AND then I got a Summer Job…as short-lived as it was for other reasons, then I had to deal with the fallout of my job ending earlier than expected, etc.

All in all, a lot of things happened and that's why this story so many of you love took so long to Update. Sorry about that, hopefully now that things are normalizing my Update speed can go up once again. Also, for those interested, now that Lusus Naturae has ended OverGamer will be retaken, but that one is meant to be short, so in the near future I hope to be working only in this and OPG, which should speed things up!

That's for later, though. For now, enjoy a slightly-longer-than-usual Update to make up for the long delay!

As always, help filling this fic's TvTropes is appreciated. Now, enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **[Arc 4: Reach the True End!]**

* * *

 **Scene 15: Evil Kings and Dark Princesses**

 _Blinking in surprise, Kirito stared around with confusion, before his face turned into a completely deadpan stare upon noticing he was standing just before a Post Office, seeing a woman with a calm and almost shy-looking demeanor walk towards it while tightly holding the hand of a little girl, most likely her daughter._

 _The reason of his look, though, was because the little girl was without any doubt Sinon, the loli-version of the mysterious Archer wearing a small but determined look as she seemed to more guide her mother than to be guided by her._

 _"…seriously? I…I'm actually seeing her past in my dreams?" sighing to himself, the black-haired boy gave the heavens a tired look. "Are you ever going to run out of clichés to throw at me, Dating Sim powers? No? Okay then, may as well go along with this just to see what I'm supposed to see…"_

 _At the beginning, the scene seemed like something typical and normal you would see every day, or maybe in a Slice of Life anime given the focus it was getting: Just a mother and her oddly serious daughter doing everyday business in a post office, something that could be called boring if the gamer was feeling particularly negative…except for how cute little Sinon looked sitting there and waiting for her mom._

 _And then, as all scenes like this usually go, something out of the ordinary happened: A very disturbing-looking man entered the office, looking quite out of it, and triggering all of Kirito's danger instincts even before the younger version of his Archer friend started looking at him with worry._

 _When the man manhandled the young girl's mom and pulled out a gun, though, the black-haired boy couldn't help but jump to his feet, staring in wide-eyed shock at the scene. That was when Sinon's younger self decided she couldn't let her mother be in danger after he randomly shot one of the workers and jumped in…_

 _"Hey, leave her alone!" shouted the gamer with anger and worry as he rushed forward, despite knowing that, like with every cliché moment when an MC watched such 'past events', there would be nothing he could do to change the scene…_

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

 _…and then his fist crashed painfully against the shocked robber with all the force of his SAO STR Stat in a perfectly executed Martial Arts Skill, shattering his jaw and sending him flying over the counter and against the wall, where he fell down like a ragdoll._

 _Blinking, Kirito looked at his outstretched hand, surprised. Even more shocked, the little girl at his side and everyone present in the post office stared at him, before he coughed and lowered his arm, feeling weirdly awkward_

 _That…wasn't supposed to happen, right?_

 _"U-uhm…who are you, mister?" asked the confused youngling while looking up at him._

 _"E-ehm…just a random passerby that wanted to help out…and why hasn't any of you called the cops yet?!" shouted the black-haired boy with a voice filled with authority, prompting the workers to rush around and do that while he looked down at the wide-eyed Sinon. "It's okay, Sin…ehem, Shino-chan. All is fine now."_

 _"A-ah…thanks a lot!" thanked the little girl with a curtsy and a bright smile before she rushed to help her equally shocked mother, even as the gamer was still trying to understand what the hell had just happened._

 _However, his shock was short-lived, given that everything around him suddenly turned a dull gray and 'melted', before he felt his position shift and the scene be replaced by a much more familiar one._

 _He was on the ground, a dull feeling of pain filling his small body as his grandfather looked down at him with clear rage in his eyes, even as a scared and slightly horrified young Suguha shook on the side._

 _Grimacing at having been brought back to the day he decided to quit practicing kendo, Kirito resigned himself, having long since gotten over it even if he hadn't quite forgiven his grandad for it, no matter how old or deeply fixed with tradition the old man had been. Some things truly made all the difference for a child, after all, and perhaps if he hadn't hit him with the shinai that day and just accepted him stopping peacefully, maybe things would have been different for him and Sugu._

 _But even so, there was nothing but apathy and resignation in his gaze as he saw the wooden sword descending, knowing he would have to endure one strike more before his little sister jumped in and made the promise that would lead her down the life of the dedicated kendoka…_

 _"DON'T TOUCH HIM!"_

 _…when a blur of red shot forward, cut his grandfather's shinai in several pieces with superhuman speed and then hitting him on the side with her black and white twin swords, sending the old man flying and probably with several cracked bones despite just receiving the flat edge of the blades._

 _Staring in open-mouthed shock, the gamer looked up to see the enraged face of Sinon the Archer, the scantily-clad girl quickly looking away from his half-dead grandad and dismissing Kanshou and Bakuya as she kneeled to his side and hugged him, much to the boy's shock, making shushing sounds as he cradled his little body against her own._

 _"Uhm…what…?"_

 _"Shh, it's okay, Kirito. You're safe…I won't let anything hurt you…_ Master _…"_

 _"…he-hey, who are you and why are you hugging my Onii-chan, pervert?!"_

 _Ignoring the shouts of little Sugu as she rushed forward and started uselessly hitting on the older girl's back, the black-haired boy was still trying to understand what the hell was going on before the whole scene started vanishing again, like the color was melting off the world._

 _The warmth coming from the Archer's hug never left him, though…_

 **November 20th, 2024. Arc Sophia, Main Inn. Kirito's Room, 08:35…**

Slowly opening her eyes, Sinon blinked in confusion, then felt her cheeks heating up to surprising levels upon noticing the arms gently wrapped around her.

The fact that her own arms were also wrapped back around the body of the boy beside her didn't help much with that. Panicking for a moment, the girl was quick to both remember how she had ended up where she was and that no, nothing had happened last night beyond her ending up being comforted and hugged to sleep inside Kirito's delicate-looking yet strong and warm arms…

 _"N-no, what are you thinking, Shino?! Remember he's an i-irredeemable playboy with like a dozen girlfriends! Think straight, you're the bone of your sword and all that, you definitively don't…ohmygodhisfaceiscuteandistooclose!"_ mentally screaming the last part, the Archer wiggled her way out of the gamer's arms, breathing heavily as she shook her head and tried to concentrate on more important matters, like the bizarre dream she had just woken up from.

The strange part with her saving a much younger Kirito from an old man with a shinai aside, the first part had felt…familiar and, for some reason, made her heart race in an unsettling way. Which led her to think it probably had been a memory of her past…at least up until the part where the black-haired boy had appeared from nowhere and helped her and her mother.

Ignoring the way in which her heart warmed at the thought and suppressing the need of looking at her Master…a-at the gamer, again, Sinon couldn't help but think of how frustrating that was. She now remembered her real name, things like her mother's face, where she lived in Japan and that she had been using a prototype FullDive machine called Medicuboid for an experimental treatment…but nothing else.

Not her past, not why she was living alone in an apartment despite being so young…not even WHY she was undergoing treatment with FullDive technology. Hell, she had clearer memories of the bizarre series from where the fictional character whose powers she now knew she had come from than those of her childhood!

Counter Guardian EMIYA…the Archer in Red, the one who lost his faith on his ideals, the one who was willing to maybe cause a terrible time-space collapse to literally erase himself from a place outside Time and Space…by killing his past self.

She _really_ hoped that it was just a coincidence she had ended up with his powers and memories (Somehow adapted into very realistic first-person experience…probably work of whatever system made SAO work, if Kirito was to be believed) and not that she somehow resembled him in real life. The girl had no wish to be even remotely like someone who thought destroying the future was a viable justification to end their own suffering…even if the guy had kinda come around in the end.

…at least she hadn't ended up stuck with **Gilgamesh's** powers, though. The possible implications of _that_ , as wrong as they may have been, would probably have haunted her for weeks.

Now, if only she could understand what exactly had been the deal with that dream earlier, maybe she could remember the key part of her past she was missing to unlock her full memories. Sinon just _knew_ it was something related to whatever happened inside that post office during her childhood, but she still couldn't properly recall WHAT it had been.

Dammit, if only Kirito hadn't suddenly shown up in her dreams, saving the day all heroic and amazing like he always had, with that worried cute face of his that made her heart skip a beat and-she totally wasn't thinking that just now!

Face redder than it had ever been, the Archer stood up and quickly rushed out of the room, only stopping at the doorframe to give an unusually shy look back at the sleeping form of the black-haired boy.

"…thanks."

With that quick whisper delivered, the girl equipped her usual attire and quickly headed back to downstairs, probably to grab some early breakfast.

As soon as the door closed, though, the gamer's eyes opened, a small sigh escaping his lips as they turned into a guilty smile at having been pretending to sleep for a few minutes now.

Trying to chastise himself for his thoughts about how cute the overly flustered Sinon had looked, he let his gaze move to the Notifications that had popped up as soon as he woke up.

 **[You gained 50 Affection Points with Heroine Shino!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the achievement: 'Shared Dreams'! You gain +10 in Wisdom!]**

There were so many things Kirito wanted to question or think about. What the hell had just happened in his dreams and how it apparently had _really_ happened, thanks to his crazy powers again, being near the top of that list, but what he actually voiced out loud was…

"Why was there even an Achievement for sharing dreams with a Heroine in the first place?!"

* * *

Shigemura Yuuna…better known by everyone as just 'Yuna' inside the virtual world, had already grown used to most of the madness that had surrounded her life ever since her first close brush with death and being saved from its almost literal claws by a knight in shining armor.

However, some things were apparently still able to make her feel a bit out of her deep.

"I can't stop saying it out loud…you look fantastic, Yuuna-chan!"

"Hell yeah! You were a beauty before, but now you actually like some sort of virtual idol!"

"Fuurinkazan can boast of having the cutest 'Vocaloid' in Aincrad! Don't you think so, Nautilus-kun?!"

"Uuuuuhhh…"

Giving out a weak laugh at the funny look in her childhood friend's face, the singer couldn't help but awkwardly scratch the back of her head, glad that Asuna had helped her take care of her now much longer hair that morning, something she had no experience with (Even if it technically wasn't needed 'cause…you know, virtual world).

While she was sure many girls would have thought Klein and the rest of the guild were being 'creepy', she knew they were all actually being honest and genuinely excited, complimenting her new looks and strange abilities obtained after her 'change' of yesterday. She had been in the guild long enough to know they were like a weird group of brothers that all looked up to the samurai-wannabe who, despite his terrible luck with the opposite sex, was still an accomplished leader and very competent fighter. There was a reason why Fuurinkazan could boast of being one of the only 2 Front Line guilds (And the oldest one) in the whole game that had never lost a single member.

When she and Eiji had joined the guild, they had quickly become like the 'little siblings' of the group, and not in a negative way, as they all still valued their abilities in and out of the battlefield as they deserved. It had still made her very happy and warm, as for a long time her only family had been her father.

So, while most of her heart was usually with Kirito and the other girls at Unison Heart, a part of it would always be linked to the loud and excitable group of young adults (Plus her childhood friend) currently making a fuss at the bar and ignoring Agil telling them to keep it down so early in the morning.

Idly, she wondered if it would be too weird to organize one big meal with everyone over at her home when they returned to reality. Her father would be weirded out and probably quite distrustful of everyone, but she could deal with that while explaining everything that she went through there…

…well, okay, not everything. She was pretty sure her father's good mood would vanish if she explained the, ehem, 'unique' relationship she and every other female friend she had shared with Kirito. Maybe one day she would be able to explain it properly, but it would most likely take…a long time.

Very, very long time…

"…huh? Oh, good morning, Sinon!" greeted the songstress to the scantily-clad girl upon seeing her walking down the stairs, getting a blink and a hesitant wave from her. "Are you going to have breakfast? Join us, the more the merrier as we always say!"

"Yeah, come and have breakfast with us, Sinon-san!" grinned Klein while giving out a thumbs-up. "Kirito won't get jealous, because Yuna-chan is here with us too!"

"I-I DON'T LIKE HIM THAT WAY! AT ALL!" squeaked the Archer before rushing out of the Inn with a burning face, stopping at the door to point back at the blinking members of Fuurinkazan. "I DON'T!"

"…she's…very bad at hiding it, isn't she?" commented Eiji with a very noticeable sweatdrop.

"She literally fell from the sky into his arms, then called him 'master' upon crossing gazes with him, Eiji-kun. She could deny it with a perfect poker face and the Trope would still have sealed her fate." 'sagely' explained Klein while nodding to himself.

Yuna decided to just laugh nervously, not willing to voice out loud how much she agreed with that statement. Even without the blatant denials, she and the others had noticed how shaken Sinon looked yesterday after she and Kirito came back from the Hollow Area. And also the way in which she was leaning on their 'husband' for support.

Sure, Kirito had explained some things about her 'episode' while fighting an Area Boss and what he more or less thought had happened to the scantily-clad girl, so everyone had pretended not to notice when she had sneaked into his room later that night with a clearly lost look in her face. Clearly, 'nothing' of what quite a few of them had gotten up with the black-haired boy lately had happened, but the fact that the Archer had latched onto him like a lifeline once parts of her memory had come back spoke a lot more than what she always said.

Honestly, she was sure any normal person would be feeling more than annoyed that _yet another_ girl seemed to be falling for the boy she liked, but…there was nothing normal on her, _their_ , current relationship with Kirito. And besides, the way in which Sinon just kept denying as hard as she could feeling anything for him…well, she wouldn't voice it out loud, but she completely agreed with Klein's statement. Her 'fate' was sealed probably since the moment she fell in his arms.

Maybe it was about time she gathered with the others and they started having a serious talk about it, though. Nobody wanted another 'scare' like the one seeing their 'husband' asking Leafa to marry him in the middle of the inn had been…

Speaking of which, there came the blonde-haired bombshell, still with a silly smile on her face and acting as if not even the Floating Castle collapsing could take away her good mood, ordering something for breakfast while humming to herself and looking at the stairs happily. Geez, girl must have had it very bad for her 'brother' for even longer than he had suspected.

And, of course, that was the moment the aforementioned boy chose to come down the stairs, covering a small yawn (He would always prefer sleeping in no matter how much time it passed, eh?) as he saw his adoptive sister and send a smile her way, heading over to sit at her side before spotting Fuurinkazan and also wave and smile their way.

Chuckling, Yuna blew him a kiss while the males of the guild loudly greeted him, Klein being the loudest as always, and the songstress couldn't help but felt her heart warm with happiness even as she saw the rest of Unison Hearts start coming downstairs.

Hopefully, once they got out of there, things could remain just like this in the real world for as long as they could…

* * *

The Hollow Area's control room was probably the most strange-looking place in SAO that players could enter. At least, that was a thought which usually crossed Philia's mind when she tried to fall asleep staring at the night sky-like void surrounding the main consoles.

Didn't help that it was impossible to tell if it was day or night while inside there except looking at the clock in her menu. _That_ would mess up with anyone's sleeping habits under normal circumstances, but, thankfully, she had more than enough company to keep her entertained and remind her when they were getting tired…

"…and that's why, despite its many flaws, Dragon Ball is a treasure of Japan's History that should be treasured forever." finished Hollow Lind with a proud look on his face.

Mochi the Fellbeast snorted in clear amusement even as the three other Hollows deadpanning at the older one. Their 'master' could only chuckle in nervousness.

"That was an…interesting debate, Lind-kun, but I don't think this is the best setting for such conversations." commented the dandelion-haired girl while doing her best to ignore the man's depressed look. "He-hey, don't be like that! When we get out of here, we will talk about our likes and dislikes as much as we want!"

"…you mean IF we get out of here, Philia-sama." sighed Coper while looking away.

"Hey, Coper, don't say that!" chided Mater with a sharp and serious look, even as Koharu and Lind gave a worried glance at the suddenly down-looking Philia. "Fo-forgive him, Philia-sama, the idiot didn't mean to…!"

"I-it's fine, Mater, don't worry about it. I'm not mad." waved it off the lady of the Ring with an awkward smile. "In this situation, it's normal to be doubtful, but I'm sure that with time and Kirito's help, we will all manage to…!"

"You're right…your dedication is admirable. No wonder you are the one who holds power over the Ring, Philia-san."

Everyone within the room jumped to their feet at the unknown voice, eyes wide and hands flying to their weapons as Mochi growled menacingly. Turning towards the darkness closest to the Teleport Monolith at the opposite side of the room, Philia watched in disbelief as a dark figure clad in darkness and a sinister armor walked forward, arms raised and a calm demeanor about him.

"Witch King…" mumbled the dandelion-haired girl with clear confusion, even as her followers and 'pet' surrounded her and took threatening stances towards their 'sworn enemy'. "Ho-how are you here…?"

"Fate seems to have granted me an amusingly useful gift, perhaps because my aim is greater than myself." declared the man while casually removing his glove, ignoring the weapons pointed at him by the tense Hollows, showing them the same mark Kirito had received upon arriving at the Hollow Area. "But that aside…I have come to surrender."

"…what." flatly declared Philia with clear disbelief, even as her followers exchanged dubious looks, or snorted in Coper's case.

"Pfft, yeah, right! Do you think we were born yesterday?!"

"Yeah, the-there is no way you would just come and do that!" shouted Mater with a defiant look.

"What's your true goal, you bastard?!" snarled Lind while gripping his blade tighter.

"Phi-Philia-sama, stay behind us!" begged Koharu while raising her arm protectively.

"I wasn't talking with you, traitors, but with your master." casually retorted the darkest inhabitant of the Hollow Area before, with a tired sigh, reaching out for his helmet. "But I guess my sincerity requires a bit more than just words to be believed, of course."

Before everyone's shocked eyes, the 'Witch King' took off the sinister-looked helmet that always obscured his head. Then, as if an afterthought, he reached back and raised the how of his… _poncho_ to cover his head slightly, letting his dark smile and, above all else, the strange scar-like blue tattoo on the right side of his head to be highlighted.

"N-no way…you are…PoH?! From Laughing Coffin?!" screamed Lind upon easily recognizing the man now, making everyone else tense in shock.

After all, no matter where in Aincrad you have lived, everyone knew about the feared killer guild, and their even more feared leader. Even after they had been taken down by the combined efforts of the Nameless Knight and several Front Liners, with Yuna the songstress making it surprisingly easy, there were still whispers about the atrocities they had committed.

"Well, not really…after all, none of us would like to simply be judged as our 'originals' back in Aincrad, right? We're all Hollows that have taken their own paths here, after all." chuckled the dark man with clear amusement, his voice making something dark shoot through the group's eyes as they lowered their weapons for an instant. "And like I said, I'm just tired of this cat and mouse game. I keep losing men and you all keep having to watch your back to not get killed every time you walk out of here, so…why don't we end it? I should have known from the beginning that it was foolish to try and oppose the _Lady of all Hollows_ , after all."

"…eh?" confused, Philia let out a nervous chuckle, though all her followers could notice how she had suddenly paled and taken a step back when they turned to look at her in shock. "I-I'm…I'm not a…"

"Oh? You didn't know? Don't tell me you hadn't noticed the obvious yet? You can't get out of the Hollow Area through the Teleporter, right? Just like none of them can?" commented Hollow PoH while pointing out to the rest of the present virtual copies, only to then walk up to the aforementioned monolith and, before anyone could stop him, get a familiar 'Error' message to pop up upon trying to activate it. "Neither do I. See?"

"Bu-but…that's not! I am…I know…!"

"We Hollows have all the memories of the original ones up until the point of separation when we became 'aware', you know? Should I guess something happened that actually convinced you that you were the real one…something related to that permanent Orange Cursor atop your head, perhaps?"

Philia gulped, suddenly feeling terribly cold, barely hearing her followers' worried calls as she turned around and stumbled upon the console, her mind a torrent as she recalled the crazy events that had brought her there.

The memory of her Teleport Crystal failing. Waking up on the ground in the forest area outside, facing…herself.

Then fear, confusion, and a frantic fight. The sound of polygons shattering and, at the end of it, only one still standing…and her cursor turning permanently Orange.

And the Ring emerging from the other's remains, choosing her to command Its power…

She was…was she really…the Hollow?

N-no, but that's…that was crazy, she was…Takemiya Kotone! She remembered her parents, her house, her childhood…!

…but did Hollows not know that, too? She had never bothered asking…if her four 'friends' had any memory of their real selves lives before SAO. After all, that would be like acknowledging them as 'fakes', and, for her, they were more real and reliable than the 'real' ones she didn't even know would ever be.

So then…wasn't it possible that she was the Hollow, too? That she had, in her shock and confusion, killed the real Philia, and now was just confused, thinking herself to be the original?

It made sense…it made a frightening amount of sense, actually. What PoH had said, the fact that this Ring had chosen her when its powers were clearly so dark, the facts that demonstrated no Hollow could leave the Hollow Area…

Bu-but then…that meant she was nothing more than a bunch of data. 0s and 1s believing themselves to be a real girl. Even worse, one trapped in a place where no normal players could ever step into.

Nothing she had done here mattered. She wasn't really alive. Even what she felt for Ki…

 _"Kirito."_

All her thoughts suddenly stopped as soon as his name popped up in her mind.

Suddenly, a strange warmth seemed to fill her chest, the memories of the things they had done together trying to push the fears and dark thoughts away.

Didn't he even have an NPC as a 'wife', after all? Didn't he treat Coper, Lind, Mater, and Koharu as if they were any other person he knew? If there was anyone in the world that would accept her, despite being a Hollow, wouldn't it be…?

A squeak escaped her throat when the Ring burned brightly in her finger all of a sudden, catching everyone off-guard as her armor seemed to react, glowing with eerie power as she grabbed her head.

Weird visions of a land filled with fire and a burning sky filled her view for a moment, before the image of a burning eye that seemingly had no eyelid seemed to reflect into every screen of the console behind her.

Head snapping up towards the other Hollows, they all fell a sudden chill at the unnatural fire within her eyes, before her gaze suddenly fixed on PoH's cautious form.

The Lady of the Ring now knew what she had to do, after all.

"…you said you wanted to surrender, Witch King?"

"…yes?"

"Then, to prove you're being sincere, I want you to guide me…" taking a deep breath, Philia forced herself to stand tall, looking oddly menacing for a girl with her face and height, odd armor notwithstanding. "Take me to the place you have been trying to take the Ring to. To the Hollow Area's Great Void area."

For a moment, the man's face turned into one of shock, before a fierce smile appeared on it.

"Sure. Anything for my Lady, after all."

As he turned around, the so-called 'Witch King' couldn't quite hide the diabolical smile on his face as he re-equipped his helmet.

…he also completely missed Philia signaling something to Mochi and her followers as she started to 'follow', her Ring glowing ominously with a full set of curses in a terrible and dark language…

Which was kind of ruined by the nice and hopeful smile on its owner's face.

* * *

"Well, that was honestly way easier than I could have imagined." commented Argo as the Front Line group exited the stairs and walked out into Floor 81, Leafa quickly overtaking the Raid as a whole and flying high into the air to scout the immediate area, under the ever-awed gaze of most of the Players. "Granted, Yuna-chi's Buffs turned everyone into a fucking Unstoppable Legion and also sent the Boss into a catastrophic spiral to defeat when her song Debuffed it to hell and back, but…"

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Even with most of us staying back, that Boss was kinda disappointing." added Asuna while walking to the Rat's side, her golden armor gleaming against the midday's sunlight. "Then again, it was a giant slug that shot fire, so…"

"I guess even Kayaba and the Development Team of the game had to start running out of ideas at some point…100 Bosses just for the main game, never mind all the extra Dungeon's, Sub-Bosses and Field Bosses, and it all being released on launch probably put quite some strain on them." chimed in Lisbeth as she gave her best friend's armor a proud look, remembering how it had just saved a couple of careless Players from being roasted alive.

"Kyuuuuu!" 'roared' Pina to the heavens as if in approval, even as Silica, Sachi, and Kizmel stroked her sides to make the excited Elder Feathery Dragon calm down.

"Sadly, I don't think we can risk doing that again." sighed Kirito as he examined the swamp-like Floor they were now in, Sinon casually standing close to him without saying anything while Diavel walked up to them, Lux and Fuurinkazan close behind him. "Cardinal definitively will have taken notice of that…it was the fastest-beaten Boss since we had Leafa simply shoot that one to death."

"I was afraid you would say that. Honestly, though, Yuna-san's newfound abilities would make exploring Floors an extremely easy affair, even if using her in Boss battles is too risky now." commented the blue-haired knight as he arrived at the swordsman's side. "If that's okay with her and you all, I would like to request her to help the Party in charge of exploring this Floor later today…"

"I don't see the problem with that!" chirped the songstress with a bright smile, her microphone jumping from one hand to another as if she was just about to break out into another song any second now, Lux at her side looking encouraging of the unspoken idea. "Besides, it may be for the best, I believe…"

"We wouldn't want something like what happened last time to happen to next scouting party, right?" added Asuna with an awkward smile, even as Diavel sighed and did his best to try and forget the memory of the Amygdala almost killing him and his companions. "Then maybe we should just go ahead and explore the Floor right now ourselves? That Boss fight lasted way less than we thought and I'm not really tired at all…what do you think, Kirito-kun?"

Just before the boy could even open his mouth and voice his opinion, a familiar but vaguely forgotten feeling assaulted him even as he felt the world freeze around him, losing most of its color before two 'Options' appeared before him.

Huh, how strange…he had almost forgotten about the very first 'outrageous' aspect of his 'powers' by now, what with how long it had been without any 'Choice Moment' happened.

Still, weren't there usually three options? And why had it happened just as Asuna…?

 **A-[Let's go explore this Floor already!]**

 **B-[…I have a bad feeling all of a sudden. I should go to the Hollow Area]**

Once again, the gamer's thoughts ceased as soon as he saw the choices before him. One seemed like it would just follow just the way things have been going normally, with no real strangeness at all and having made the 'interruption' completely pointless…

But it was 'Option B' what sent a weird chill down his spine. It seemed very random, out of nowhere and, no matter how you looked at it, completely unrelated to what he was currently doing. There was no real reason for that choice to be made at all.

In other words, it totally looked like the 'Option' one would go to for unlocking an alternative Route or Path in an Eroge. Usually one they would only come back to very later and that had a very strange or totally different development to the obviously 'main' one.

But the big difference was that, no matter how much his broken and crazy power tried to insist on the contrary, this was not a Dating Simulator. This was real life.

He had no 'Save' or 'Load' game options here. There would be no coming back to one 'route' or another. And knowing that all of these choices had consequences, consequences he himself had accepted since long ago to shoulder and burden himself with no matter what in return for 'abusing' his power…

"…I just had a bad feeling… I need to get to the Hollow Area." came from the gamer's lips as soon as his choice was made and the world returned to its normal time, making everyone look at him in surprise as he turned around with serious eyes. "Sorry, everyone, explore the Floor without me! I will be back soon!"

"Wha…?! Kirito-kun?!"

"He-hey, where is Kirito-san going in such a hurry?" asked Silica as she, Sachi, and Kizmel rushed closer to the group, staring in surprise at the boy's retreating back.

"He said something about a bad feeling and needing to go to the Hollow Area…do you think Philia-san is in trouble?" asked a worried Yuna while looking at Sinon and Argo, two of the ones who had already been in the strange backup Server of Aincrad.

"It's…possible, but that still seemed very out of the blue." doubted the Info Broker while looking at the running Kirito. "Something seems to have spooked him all of a sudden…"

"His instincts are way sharper than those of any normal person, that's for sure." pointed out Sinon as she clearly restrained herself from rushing after the boy, doing her best to ignore the voice in her head mumbling about a Servant never abandoning their Master. "Should we go after…?"

"Don't worry, I got this!" suddenly called out Lisbeth, of all people, surprising many as she rushed out just as a confused/apprehensive Leafa landed, interrupting her from asking what was wrong as she ran past the group and after the boy they all loved. "You all with your fancy superpowers make sure this Floor is ready for clearing, I will go and see what's up with our idiotic 'husband'! _And_ make sure he doesn't do anything TOO stupid!"

"Liz, wait!…and, she's gone." sighed Asuna while putting a hand over her head. "Dammit…it's not as if I can't just reach either of them in a second, but it would make me feel kind of bad…"

"Not to mention very humiliating for them after that dramatic exit." pointed out Kizmel with a calm smile, earning some nervous chuckles from the gathered Front Liners.

"And I can fly at Gundam speeds…and Silica-chan here has a giant flying dragon…" Pina chose that moment to 'roar' at Leafa's words, making her look around with an awkward look. "Actually, almost everyone here can just rush up and catch up to them, right?"

"I mean, I couldn't…maybe." commented Argo while idly touching her black-as-knight cloak, a slightly pondering look in her face. "Yuna-chan either, I believe…"

"Actually, I could Buff myself with some of the stupidly broken Agility Boosts some of my songs grant and do so." brought up the songstress with a cute thoughtful look in her face.

"I could have Night Kitty catapult me after them! But…that may be a bit dangerous…" awkwardly laughed Sachi while scratching the back of her neck.

"I don't have any fancy way of catching up with them, so…does that mean I win something?" cutely questioned Lux with an excited sparkle in her eyes, making most sweatdrop.

"…is it always like this when being close to these guys?" asked Diavel with a resigned tone.

"Eh, you get used to it." waved it off Klein with a smile, before smacking Asuna on the back (Doing absolutely nothing, except giving him the hype of touching the Libra Golden Cloth) and making her look at him. "Now, let's believe in Kirito and his weird instincts and explore this Floor! Nautilus, prepare the Fuurin-mobile!"

"A-ah, right away, Klein-san!"

"…you guys are way too carefree…"

"And you're too stiff, Diavel! Learn to live a little, you sound like an old man!"

"…don't think I haven't noticed how your respect towards me has noticeably dropped since that thing the other day of me not knowing about Asuna's armor…"

Tuning out the increasingly stupid conversation taking place behind her, the 'Gold Saint' shook her head and turned to the rest of the girls present, who had varying degrees of worry in their faces…except for Kizmel, who had a confident smile proving how much she believed in their 'husband' to handle whatever was coming.

Unable to contain herself, Asuna smiled too, before motioning the group forward.

"C'mon, Liz will make sure Kirito-kun is fine. For now, we have to do our best to get this game cleared faster!"

Without any more doubts in her face, the undiscussed second in command of Unisons Heart marched forward, her legendary armor gleaming under the sunlight. Nodding with approval, the Dark Elf of the group followed cue, casually making a sharp rock erupt from the ground and impale the giant frog-like creature that had been about to jump on the gathered Players.

Exchanging one last look, the entire group sans Sinon nodded and trotted (Or flew) after the two, determined to follow their example. The Archer hesitated a second more, her gaze flickering in the direction Kirito had run off to before simply closing her eyes and following after the now moving Front Liners.

Hopefully, everything would turn out okay, as they were saying.

None of them noticed the red-eyed form of Strea hiding behind a nearby tree, looking at the Front Liners for a moment before _Quickening_ after the pair that ran off…

* * *

If there was any way to describe the Great Void Area, it would have been…'weird'. And given how most of the Hollow Area was after the bizarre changes brought about by the Ring's appearance, that was saying something.

Still, there was just something about the titanic 'crater' on the south of the backup server that felt 'wrong' for anyone. And that you could only teleport to the bottom didn't help with that feeling…much less when the rock suddenly changed into a strangely unnatural-looking 'crystal' that seemed to reflect whatever light the current level of the seemingly depthless abyss had. It made one feel as if they had stepped out of the medieval semi-fantasy setting SAO was supposed to have and into some sci-fi area, regardless of if monsters kept normally spawning or not.

Then again, it wasn't as if the latter were that much of a deal. Not when a couple of dozen hooded figures, most of which were riding atop snarling Fellbeasts, were there to help out take care of anything that showed up.

"…I see you have been busy." mused Philia as she and her four followers marched behind the Witch King's silent form, the four Hollows staring at the other 'Nazgul' with clear distrust.

"What can I say? You proved that taming these things wasn't impossible, so we rolled with it." commented Hollow PoH with clear amusement while pointing at Mochi, who was growling with clear impatience as it simply 'walked' after the group, the presence of so many members of his race apparently not making it feel any comfort. "Plus, with how stupidly hard some of the things showing up down here are, we can't exactly take any chances."

"Oh yeah? Why?" called out Lind with clear distrust as he used his blade to impale, then kick down a golem that had just spawned from one of the many crystal-like 'bridges' connected with the one they were all walking through. "These things don't really seem that tou…"

" **WEN-DI-GOOOOOO!"** echoed through the cavernous void before an all-white creature that one could have described as a demonic-looking Yeti jumped up from one of the lower platforms, colliding with one of the Fellbeasts and crushing its head with ease, then biting off the head of its rider as it landed before the wide-eyed/horrified group. " **WEN…!** "

"HYAAA!" roared Philia in defiance as the Ring in her hand shone, her macabre-looking 'dagger' lashing out and carving a 'bloody' trace of red polygons across the creature's chest, making it scream in apparent pain. "You're not getting any of us, discount Abominable Snowman!"

With that said, the dandelion-haired girl channeled the sinister dark power of her Ring, the inscription shining as if with eldritch fire and _pushing_ the monster with an unseen force, enough to make it fall back-first over the edge, its inhuman scream echoing endlessly as it plunged into the abyss below.

"…holy shit, Philia-sama is the boss." mumbled Koharu while raising a hand in a vague 'cheer' sense.

"…was that the motherfucking Wendigo?" asked Coper with a clearly disturbed look, though nobody seemed to pay him too much attention.

"Okay, that takes care of that." sighed the Lady of the Ring while lowering her weapon, giving the silent Witch King an unamused look. "Are we close?"

"…very much so in fact, my lady." chuckled the virtual man as he walked past her, the twisted and strangely smooth bridges finally arriving an opening on the 'walls' of the void's cavern, within which only a labyrinthic passageway could be seen. "There is this massive area inside, like an amalgamation between a vault and a hidden dungeon…and there is a door on the northernmost area that can't be opened. But…"

"You believe the Ring will be able to open it, huh?" narrowing her eyes, Philia looked straight into PoH's darkness-covered face, not letting the sinister helmet intimidate her in the slightest. "What's inside there?"

"Absolute Power…or, at least, that's, what I'm hoping for." pointed out the darkest Hollow while motioning upwards. "A way for us Hollows to leave the Hollow Area, finally."

"…sounds good. Lead the way." nonchalantly pointed out the dandelion-haired girl.

"Heh, sure…all of you, wait here and make sure nothing that could kill us follows." Commanded the Witch King as he started heading inside.

"Guys, stay here with Mochi too, he can't fit inside."

"Wha…?! But Philia-sama, we can't let you go alone with hi…!"

"Everyone, it's fine." pointedly remarked the Lady of the Ring with a meaningful 'glare', making the four of them freeze. "Believe me…you know what to do."

Nodding mutely, the four Hollows accepted their so-called-master's words, watching her vanish into the strange labyrinth with the virtual copy of a certified killer and madman.

Once they were out of sight…they turned around, staring at the guarding and silently flying squad of 'Nazgul' and Fellbeasts. Those same ones that once upon a time they had tentatively called 'comrades'.

The following silence didn't even last half a minute before the screams started.

* * *

"I still think you shouldn't have come, Liz." mumbled Kirito as he and the pink-haired blacksmith materialized within the Hollow Area's control room. "I'm not gonna do anything stupid, just checking out that things are fine…"

"Yeah, sure…try and say that again when you totally didn't forget you could have just used a Teleport Crystal instead of running back all the way to town." replied the blacksmith while rolling her eyes, making the boy wince as he remembered her smug expression when she was already waiting for him at Arc Sophia's Teleport Gate. "…also, the fact that the famous Philia isn't around is probably a sign your bad feeling was spot-on."

"Shit. Where could have she gone?" questioned the gamer as he looked around the room. "Even if her wish to go explore alone was too much, I would have expected Lind and the others to dissuade her from it after last time…"

"…ehm, Kirito? I know you weren't the most descriptive about this not-computer terminal when explaining it to us who haven't been here before, but…did it always have this weird message displayed on the screen?"

Lisbeth's question made Kirito turn around in surprise, quickly walking to her side and staring at the 'words' someone had left on the main console.

 **WK is PoH.**

 **Going with him to GVA. Most likely a trap.**

 **DW. Have a plan.**

 **BRB**

"…the Witch King was fucking PoH's Hollow?! And she followed him to the Great Void Area?!" screamed the boy to no one as he slammed his face against the control panel, even the lack of pain not preventing the pink-haired girl at his side from wincing at the gesture. "Why, Philia?! Do you have a weird fetish with putting your life at risk every time I come over to see if you're okay?!"

"…I'm actually more shocked that you could perfectly read all of that than for the other thing, actually." commented the blacksmith while awkwardly lowering her hammer. "Despite having actually talked about it, sometimes it's hard to remember you're just a normal boy who likes videogames in real life and not this badass swordsman…"

"Thanks, Liz, that did wonders for my self-esteem, but we have to move now." without even waiting for a reply, the gamer spun in place and grabbed Lisbeth bridal style, ignoring the small squeal she released as he dashed to the Teleport Monolith and activated it, then started running down the pathway which would lead to the Void Area without slowing down. "…huh, you're…calmer than I thought you would be…"

"Kirito, dear, after what we did the other night, you doing this is nothing." grinned the pink-haired girl with a cheeky smile and pink cheeks, causing his own cheeks to redden even as he ran even faster, all but jumping down small cliffs and over mobs that couldn't even fully turn around before they were already away from them. "…and maybe we're kind of getting used to all the super-powered craziness the others have been swinging around, but…is it me or are you, like, way stronger and faster than you were a week ago?"

"Most enemies in this place are over-leveled to a stupid degree. Also, there are like dozens of Passive Skills, Buffs, and Active Upgrades for the Avatar in the Control Room that aren't outright Cheat Codes simply because you actually have to farm them…but I have a bit of absurd luck when it comes to Party Members." casually commented Kirito as he pulled a move straight out of a Shonen Manga, jumping off two tall opposite rock-faces downwards to skip an entire section of the road. "So yes, I may not have some absurdly overpowered gimmick or toy, but by SAO's standards I probably am so unfairly strong now that even Kayaba would have a lot of trouble if we fought again."

"Heh, just look at you, trying to pretend you're not annoyed about it." laughing, the blacksmith did her best to ignore the borderline pout on the boy's face as she rested her face on his chest for a moment. "Well, don't worry, today you just have your plain and cute personal blacksmith with you, so you're the strongest guy around…probably. Don't know about the Lady of the Ring, after all."

"She's…well, she doesn't really take advantage of her powers as much as she could. Mainly 'cause she has no idea about them, but…" trailing off as they arrived before another suspiciously-placed Teleport Monolith, the gamer's face hardened. "Here we are. I have never been down there before, so be ready for anything."

"Oh, c'mon, how crazy can it be?"

As soon as the teleportation ended, the answer to Lisbeth's words came in the form of a giant robotic purple and pink head, 'bleeding' polygons like sparks as it crashed in front of the two blinking players.

" **The mutant menace m-must be exterminated…** " it babbled before shattering into polygons.

"…was that a Sentinel?" deadpanned Kirito while still staring at where it had vanished.

"Ehm, Kirito…?"

Paying attention to the pink-haired girl's hesitation, the boy finally looked forward, staring at the utter pandemonium that was seeing a bunch of Nazgul and their Fellbeasts flying around fighting off a lot of strange and bizarre (But vaguely familiar) creatures and machines, while a much more familiar group of four and their own evil dragon-like pet were taking cover behind the now headless body of the robot from before, slashing away anything that came too close to them from the sides or above.

"Come, you bastards! We won't let you get past us!"

"Lind, shut up and keep swinging!" growled Mater as she kicked off what looked like a humanoid green dude with pointy ears, beheading it before ducking under the laser of what looked like a robot with a red faceplate and pointy horns on the sides. "Why the hell are all these things spawning all of a sudden?!"

"One of those idiots must have dropped down into a trap or something when we killed it!" replied Koharu as she fended off another attacking Nazgul, barely managing to not get dragged out as she did so. "Kuh!"

"I feel as if I'm suddenly in the middle of some weird Marvel crossover!" screamed Coper as he blocked a jumpsuit-clad guy screaming _'Hail Hydra!'_ and unceremoniously threw him off the 'bridge', ignoring his scream as she turned back to the fight. "And it's not as cool as the real me would have imagined as a kid!"

"Keep it together guys, we just need to hang in there until…!"

"STARBURST STREAM!" enemies being practically erased from existence by two shining blades, the four 'followers' of the Ring's Lady froze, then felt utter relief filling them as Kirito's impressive form stopped his Skill before them, his silver cloak fluttering around him as Lisbeth rushed behind with a critical look. "Guys! Are you okay?!"

"Kirito! Thank Cardinal!" sighed Lind for a moment. "You don't know how happy…!"

"Man, we have been relying on everyone's stupid powers too much…I can't believe I have been letting you go around with a subpar piece of trash like this!" lamented the blacksmith as she grabbed the blade in the gamer's left hand, making everyone blink as she cursed softly. "As soon as we get back we're getting some good enough Ore for…"

"Sorry to interrupt, really, but there is no time! Those flying bastards are regrouping and more of those things are coming!" interrupted Mater before pointing at the open door leading into the 'labyrinth' behind them. "Philia-sama got in there with that bastard of PoH a little over 5 minutes ago! It's totally a trap, but she still went along with it 'cause she apparently had a plan, but please, go and make sure she is…!"

"He's already going." pointed out Koharu as Kirito had already somersaulted over them, rushed forward, killed what looked like a dinosaur and bird hybrid with a swing of Elder Emperor and entered the labyrinth, shouting for his pink-haired companion to stay with them. "Well…that leaves us to deal with all of these guys, I guess."

"Only until he saves your boss and brings him back, probably hanging from his arms and dying to kiss him." grinned, Lisbeth with resigned determination as she jumped over the robotic body and stood beside the four wayward Hollows, ready for the big stand. "So, what's the plan to deal with the…?"

"Watch out for the Doombot!"

"The wha…AHH!" was all that the blacksmith could scream before a form in metal-colored armor wearing a pompous green cloak and hood crashed into her, sending both flying over the edge even as she smashed her hammer against its face on instinct, shattering it. "…hey, I think I once saw this guy in a movie when I was a kid at one of my cousins' placeeeee….!"

"…welp, Kirito is now gonna kill us." smartly commented Lind as they all saw with wide-eyes how the pink-haired girl vanished into the darkness. "…did anyone even know what her name was?"

"…no?"

"…yup, he's definitively rounding us out and beheading us all." mumbled Coper as he raises his own sword once again.

Meanwhile, Lisbeth was no longer screaming as she was busy trying to not crash against the wall as she fell even more, the 'Doombot' at her side crashing faster even as she, finally, slammed into a small bridge, then almost fell off, only to hang from the half-dead mob's cloak and pull herself back up, her HP in the red.

"Holy…fuck, that was close." panting, the blacksmith shivered for a moment before looking up with a grimace, the faint sounds of the battle still raging out of her reach. "Dammit! How am I going to get back up there?! The only things in here are this piece of trash, these arrows, that X-ray visor, and…eh?"

Blinking, the pink-haired girl once again looked at her feet, seeing a rusted golden gauntlet, several weird-looking purple arrows with different tips and what looked like half a menacing-looking black blade. Her gaze moving further up the bridge, she found it littered with lots of 'trash', which ranged from a blue jumpsuit with a '4' on its chest to a helmet with small wings on its sides, all of it lying around the not-crystal structure.

"What the…?! Wait…Argo got her claws in this weird place, didn't she? Then…maybe I can find something useful amongst this trash that can let me get back up and help!" without thinking, Lisbeth rushed forward, moving and throwing away an eye-shaped necklace, a dome-shaped helmet, a black mask and what looked like a flamethrower attached to an oxygen tank filled with glue (?). "Argh, seriously?! C'mon, I'm not asking for Leafa-chan's levels of bullshit or Kizmel's elemental magic! Anything will do, a magic hammer, a mace that lets me jump high enough or…"

A hint of red and gold welcomed her as she pushed a red carpet away. Staring in shock, Lisbeth saw the thing 'open' and lit up, as if it had been waiting for someone to activate it again…

* * *

In the deepest part of the Great Void's 'vault', Philia frowned as she and her 'guide' walked past an exposed red and white shield with a star on its center, the last of many weird 'expositions' they have come across on their way there.

"…okay, I was willing to ignore the X-Men costumes, and even the crashed Fantasti-Car back there, but why Captain America's shield exposed in a backup server of Sword Art Online?"

"…you know enough about Marvel to recognize all of that, but you have never read or watched the Lord of the Rings?" deadpanned Hollow PoH with clear disbelief.

"My dad loved the comics; he has a ton of them in boxes in our attic. Sue me." coldly replied the dandelion-haired girl as they finally arrived before a strangely-shaped door, with a symbol that looked like a number '8' turned sideways on it. "Is this the one?"

"Yes…nothing we have tried has been enough to open it, no matter how much firepower, and believe me, we tried. Even with some of the things thrown outside in the lower levels, even if most of them didn't work. So we assumed…"

Without even letting the 'Witch King' continue, the Lady of the Ring raised the hand in which the golden band rested, whispers of wickedness and forbidden power echoing through it as she slammed a closed fist against the door.

Once again, the symbol of a menacing and eyelid-less eye of fire seemed to ignite into existence, this time surrounding the strange door. A few seconds later, it burst apart, shattering into polygons even as a lot of smoke filled the area.

"…done."

"Yikes…you truly area someone to be feared with that Ring, my Lady." chuckled PoH as he walked into the room, only to stop and frown at what was inside. "…an Admin. Console."

"Are you disappointed? Wasn't this exactly what you wanted?" questioned Philia as she walked up to the smooth-looking console, having no idea how to operate it but knowing quite well what it could do. "With this, there should totally be a way for us to get out of the Hollow Area, if we figure out how to use it."

"Well…yes, but to be honest, I was expecting something more…" softly muttered the dark man as he walked forward, his hidden eyes traveling through the room in search of something…while his hand subtly moved under his clothes. "You also saw that symbol on the door, right? So, you can easily imagine what I was expecting to fi…"

If the Hollow hadn't already been pulling out his trusted Mate Chopper, he would no doubt have been killed instantly. As it was, PoH was barely able to let his butcher knife-like dagger to intercept the jagged edge of the dandelion haired-girl's wicked weapon, sparks flying as both clashed for an instant before they disengaged and jumped in opposite directions, eyeing each other like two caged predators would.

"You actually parried it…guess it was too much to expect a surprise attack would just work." commented the Lady of the Ring with a frown.

"…you actually just tried to kill me." commented the man with awed surprise. "Without warning, all but stabbing me on the back."

"Yes…the 'me' of before wouldn't have been able to, but…I think I have to thank you for that. This whole big trap of yours and your words this morning me helped me realize…" as those words escaped her lips, Philia's eyes suddenly burned with the damming fires that her Ring sometimes summoned, staring straight into the Hollow's eyes. "…that I have to finish this no matter what. And, hopefully, the others already took care of your 'friends' out there."

"…HAH! So you had it all figured out from the beginning, but you still came all the way here with me, just in the hopes of taking me down?" unable to contain his laughter, PoH's entire body shook, before his menacing form suddenly seemed to ooze darkness. "You're forgetting, little girl, that despite your bravery…only one of us here is an experienced killer. And that, unlike you, I DO know how my crazy weird 'powers' work completely."

"…then do your worst, Witch King!"

With that shout, the girl lashed outwards with her blade, dark power exploding forward like corruption to the world, trying to enforce her will upon that of the one who dared to defy her.

But the man cut it apart with an animalistic roar, his own twisted willpower letting him shrug off the attack

After all, that Ring wasn't meant to be used by someone as nice and kindhearted as the player known as Philia was. Ironically, the man that was now doing his best to kill her and take it from her was much more suited to wield its malevolent powers.

And yet, its current Lady refused to back down at all. Despite how ill-suited she was for it, despite instinctively knowing she wasn't really compatible with its dark power despite knowing nothing of its origins…she refused to let go of it. No…she refused to surrender and die because someone wanted It, more like.

The Ring could respect that. The Ring could understand that. And that's why it answered to its Mistress' commands, it lashed out with her despite the lack of the intent and malice it needed to truly shine, despite how everything indicated that it should move on and actually aid the one trying to take it…

Raw power clashed with deadly skill; that which only someone who had spent their lives killing with their own hands could really possess. And it was that edge what, in the end, gave PoH the upper hand it needed, his helmet half-destroyed and clothes very damaged, his body filled with bloody gashes of angry red polygons.

Finally, ducking under the girl's next swing, the Hollow's defense-ignoring knife struck true, severing the hand where Philia's Ring and weapon were, making her eyes widen in horrified shock as she fell on her back, her enemy towering menacingly over her.

…but still, the Ring did not waver. Because, it _knew_ that its Lady's greatest power wasn't whatever had allowed her to own it in the first place…

"It's over, Philia-chan! I have the 'upper hand', you naïve…!

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

 _SLASH_

…it was the owner of that power and his fiercely protective together with, as much as his heart denied it, possessive obsession with every person he considered precious.

"…huh?" blinked the surprised dandelion-haired girl, seeing the even more shocked PoH staring incomprehensively at the reddish stump where his raised right arm had been.

"…Philia…you are… ** _he hurt you._** " voice colder than the Ninth Circle of Hell, Kirito stood between the paralyzed virtual copy of a murderer and the innocent girl that had been trapped in a dangerous and lonely place by a freak chance.

Philia looked into his eyes, swearing they had become a terrifyingly dark golden for seemingly no reason. All she could think about was how great the color looked on him after having just saved her life.

 **[You gained 100 Affection Points with Heroine Kotone!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'Someone amongst No Ones' has been maxed! Upgraded to 'My Precious One'!]**

Slowly turning around and ignoring the Notifications popping up, the black-haired swordsman set his cold 'golden' eyes on PoH's quickly backpedaling form, cold fury burning deep within his gaze.

"Wa-wait, Kirito, you wouldn't hurt someone defenseless without any…!"

Two roared words interrupted his plea.

"THE ECLIPSE!"

* * *

Hollow Coper realized they were going to die and, shockingly, he didn't exactly feel that bad about it.

Sure, he would have preferred to keep living, but it had been quite some time since he had accepted he and the others were 'living' on borrowed time.

After all, even if they managed to survive the Witch King's madness, even if they managed to somehow escape the Hollow Area (And he had no doubt Kirito would probably find a way of only to take their leader out of there)…what then? They were still just Hollow Data. Virtual copies made of real players by Cardinal for testing purposes, that should have never gained actual sentience.

Once the game was cleared, they would be gone too. One way or another, they wouldn't survive SAO.

Which probably was why, when he saw Koharu fall on her back, clutching her chest while Lind tried to cover her, even as Mater lost her arm with a scream, he decided to simply jump over their cover, behead a humanoid insect alien-thing and charge forward, ignoring the other three's shouts for him to come back.

Idly, he thought of his 'real-self', who probably still was secluding himself in the Safe Zones since that depressing first day when he had been willing to sacrifice Kirito and Argo just to get a small advantage in the game. Which, now looking back, would have been the worst mistake of his life if he had succeeded.

But he wasn't like him anymore. Not after Philia-sama 'woke' them up, and made them fight and sorta-live together. He cared about this stupid pseudo-family they had, even if they were all nothing but fakes.

With those thoughts in mind, he ducked under one of the surviving Nazgul, slashing his mount's throat and then ignoring his fall as he rammed his sword on the bridge before him.

"You shall not pass!" he couldn't help but shout despite how stupid it had to look.

And then a fucking pair of 'laserbeams' blew up most of the forces about to kill him. Coper and the other 3 'good' Hollows blinked.

Shouting for people to get out of the way, something emerged from the void down below and half-landed/half-crashed on the bridge before the virtual copy of the Beta Tester, cursing before quickly standing and raising arms with glowing pals.

Stupefied, everyone present, even the mobs, stared at the mighty form in humanoid golden and red armor, which was so iconic it was all but impossible to not at least know about.

Hearing Lisbeth's voice coming from within was certainly a shock, though.

"Alright, all of you! I have never read a single one of the comics from this guy, but I have toured the internet enough to know you don't want to mess with this armor!" boasted the pink-haired girl currently clad in goddamned Iron Man's armor. "So I suggest you all surrender now!"

"…did you just accept out loud you don't have any actual idea of how to use that armor?" couldn't help but deadpan Lind from behind, which seemed like all the prompt their enemies needed to once again rush forward, this time all of them gunning from the suddenly frozen blacksmith.

"Shit, shit, shit, why did you have to state the obvious?!" screamed Lisbeth before rushing forward, dodging under laserbeams, swords and even a whip, before punching, blasting and even kicking anything trying to get past her, most attacks bouncing off the armor even as she saw many 'Warning!' messages she barely understood popping up on the helmet's HUD. "Fuck, why doesn't this have a Tutorial or something?! Time to flyyyyyyyyyy…!"

Her shout was compounded by the armor's rocket boots coming to life and making her fly upwards in a wild spiral before she seemed to remember enough to use both repulsor beams on her palms to stabilize her flight, if barely, as half a dozen Nazgul closed on her from every direction. "Gah! Give me a break!"

 **"…break being given. Kinda**." announced an unknown female voice on the pink-haired girl's head, making her blink as she saw a new 'bar' appearing on the corner of her HUD. **"Good evening, player Lisbeth. I have been repurposed by Cardinal to act as this suit's AI, as lore-wise it's supposed to have one, apparently. You may call me HARU. Highly Advanced Retrofitting Unit."**

"…does your name actually stand for that?" questioned the blacksmith as they did a surprisingly smooth barrel roll to dodge their enemies.

 **"…no, I just made that up on the spot, but give me a break, I was originally created to be a psychologist AI and…you don't know the mess in which Cardinal has become right now."** 'shuddered' HARU despite having no actual body. **"You all but saved me with whatever random impossibility that you used to activate this thing."**

"Wait, what do you mean with that?" demanded Lisbeth even as missile pods opened across her arms as she spun, blasting off the suddenly terrified enemies that had been trying to get her, and several of the ones in the bridge.

 **"Everything down here is empty corrupted data which shouldn't be in SAO to begin with at worst and half-functioning at best. There was less than a 0.22287% chance that anything was in perfect condition, even less for something as complex as this armor."** informed the AI as they did a perfect Superhero Landing on the bridge. **"Also, thrust your chest outwards."**

"…that sounded oddly kinky." mused the pink-haired girl as she did so, only for the circle on the armor's chest plate to shine and unleash a massive beam upon anything that was still alive, turning them to virtual dust. "Woah!"

 **"No, it was just an Unibeam."** casually commented HARU with a smug tone. **"I think I'm gonna enjoy working with you, player Lisbeth."**

"Just call me Liz…partner! This is a blast, now I totally understand how the others feel!" cheered the pink-haired girl as the armor 'opened' and she stepped out, the extremely weird visage of seeing a cute girl walking out of the aforementioned gold and red suit leaving the Hollows even more speechless. "Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, but as you can see, I had everything under control."

"…uhm, cool, but…can we got and see if Philia-sama and Kirito are still alive?" asked the armless Mater even as Lind forced a Healing Crystal on her hands.

…slowly removing his sword from where he had stabbed in earlier, Hollow Coper could only deadpan at the suddenly cursing Lisbeth quickly ran back into the armor and blasted into the corridor that was probably way too small to fly in behind them.

Well…if the universe's madness wanted to keep them alive THAT blatantly, then he guessed it was okay for them to…maybe.

* * *

Releasing a shuddering breath…Kirito blinked.

Then, he blinked again, even as he stared at the mangled form of Hollow PoH in confusion just as he shattered into polygons, utterly confused.

He…had been extremely angry, then rushed towards PoH with his strongest Dual Blades Skill, and then…what?

"A-amazing…" muttered a clearly stunned Philia as she stood up, her remaining hand holding her ring and dagger without a proper grip. "Brutal, but amazing…you totally pulverized him like it was no big deal, Kirito."

"I…did?" questioned the black-haired boy, before his eyes widened slightly as he looked at his Notifications.

Come to think of it…wasn't that in the very description of his most iconic 'Skill'? Did he…had he literally just _off-screened_ PoH with 'To Protect that Smile'? And that was why he couldn't remember how he did it?

That was both terrifying and awesome in several ways…but also…

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the Achievement: 'Don't mess with my Waifu'! You gained +6 in Charm!]**

 **[Special Event 'Iron Blacksmith' has been cleared! 'Passion-Smith' Skill can now be freely activated!]**

 **[Passion-Smith] (Active Skill/Max Heroine Skill): Allows you to craft 'perfect gifts' for any female you know closely enough if you possess the right materials, even if you lack the tools to logically make them! (Especially Effective at raising a Heroine's Affection)**

 **[Congratulations! You and Heroine Rika are now Perfectly Synchronized! Your Bond is so strong you will be able to tell what the other wants without even thinking!]**

What the hell? What had Lisbeth done out there to…?

"Kiritooooo!" shouted a familiar voice but with an added 'mechanic' undertone, before a gold and red blur rocketed into the room and all but crashed on the opposite wall, awkwardly standing up and 'opening' to let the pink-haired girl step out of it and run to hug him with all her strength. "Ah…dammit, I knew you would have it under control, but I was still worried!"

"…holy shit, is that Iron Man's armor?" asked a stunned Philia while pointing at the suit, only to be yanked aside with a squeak and brought into a three-way hug. "Eh?!"

"Hello, you must be Philia! Wish we could have met under more normal circumstances, but for now let's share a hug like this with this handsome idiot, okay?" grinned the blacksmith towards the suddenly blushing girl, who shyly raised her arms to wrap them around them.

Under normal circumstances, those where he hadn't just realized he could literally off-screen portions of reality itself like a cheap and absurdly convenient narrative skip button, Kirito would probably have paid more attention to the fact Lisbeth had just, somehow, come into possession of one of the most known and powerful pieces of tech in western media.

As it was, though, he was just more centered in the fact that the pink-haired girl seemed to be developing a liking to 'shared-intimacy', if the way her hands had wandered for a few moments was anything to go by.

He didn't know if that should worry or excite him. Probably a bit of both.

Eventually, he was able to convince the blacksmith of letting go, check that Philia was, effectively, unharmed except for the obvious, then start heading back with both of them, meeting up with 4 relieved Hollows, and trying to not be _too_ harsh on the dandelion-haired girl about going off on her own in things like this.

They would be back later with Yui to try and check on the Admin. Console…if the little AI was able to concentrate enough to do anything useful with it, that is. Hopefully it would be the key needed to finally get the Lady of the Ring out of the den of madness that was the Hollow Area…

Once they were gone, though…there was nobody around to witness how a red-eyed girl stepped out from the shadows, walking into the room with the console and then heading all the way to the opposite wall, where the same symbol as the door stood.

Without hesitation, she slammed her Saw Cleaver against it, shattering the wall and revealed the object that lay floating above a seemingly endless abyss within.

An imposing-looking golden gauntlet, with 6 glowing jewels floating around it.

"…holy shit, is Cardinal so high in Corrupted Data that it has started actually spawning things like this without thinking? If this thing had fallen in anyone's hands, the results…could have been so catastrophic they may have even spilled out of the Servers." mumbled Strea while staring at the object, feeling a tug on her core, the traitorous thought of how she could use the 'Stones' to save herself being quickly banished. "Nope, not gonna fall for that…using this would mean dooming everyone else. And I gotta protect Kirito's smile."

With that said, she reached for the blade resting on her back, her palm moving over the edge and letting it recover its true form.

Nothing but determination in her eyes, the former MHCP-002 slammed her Holy Moonlight Sword down, shattering the gauntlet into polygons and letting the 6 jewels fall down into the virtual darkness, forever out of anyone's reach…

"And that takes care of that…" mumbled the Hunter with a small sigh as she turned around, heading out through the labyrinth/vault that had been noticeably damaged by Lisbeth flying through it at high speeds. "Ugh, what a tiring day…I need to go and hug my Kirito Pillow to recharge myself! Hmmm…maybe one day before everything ends I can get to cuddle with him for real all night lo…"

Stopping in her tracks, Strea's gaze shot to the side, eyes narrowed as she stared at what looked like a glass-container that was mostly shattered. For a moment, she could have sworn she had heard something.

Shrugging after a few moments, the busty virtual girl kept walking, humming softly to herself and daydreaming about Kirito once again.

As soon as she was out of sight, though, something black and slimy oozed seemingly from nowhere at the bottom of the container, hungrily flowing out and crawling for freedom…

* * *

Letting out a soft yawn, Kirito let himself fall onto his bed with a content sound.

It had certainly been quite a hectic day in the end, at least as far as he was concerned. Almost everyone else had a relaxed day of breezing through the latest unlocked Floor of Aincrad and then being worried over lunch about their delay, only for chaos to erupt through Arc Sophia when he returned accompanied by 'Iron Man', Lisbeth all but breaking down laughing once she stepped out of the suit under everyone's shocked gazes.

Honestly, sitting for 20 minutes straight 'lecturing' Philia and her followers, and all but forcing them to swear never going out in such a suicidal venture by themselves again (Mainly the blushing and constantly-apologizing dandelion-haired girl, but still).

Suffice to say, the only thing he wanted to do now was to fall asleep and let his (Mentally) tired virtual body to rest until…

A couple of hesitant knocks on his door caused the black-haired boy to blink, then sit up.

"Yes?"

"Go-good night, Kirito…"

Slowly, Sachi's bashful form entered the room, the spear-user looking extremely shy and beautiful despite wearing just simple cotton pajamas. The noticeable blush in her cheeks just made her look all the more adorable in the gamer's eyes.

"Hello, Sachi…did you want to spend the night here?"

"N-no…I mean, yes! Bu-but, not just…you know, I won Rock-Paper-Scissors to…I mean…!"

Kirito's arms closing around her lithe frame silenced Sachi's stutter, her blush intensifying but her heart suddenly feeling oddly calm.

"You know there is no need to force yourself, right? We don't have to do anything you don't want to."

In answer to the boy's soft whisper…the girl's lips found his own with unusual fervor, only for something strong and unseen to suddenly push him back and into the bed, surprisingly pinning him down.

"But…I want to."

The gamer couldn't even answer before soft lips once again covered his own, Night Kitty's playful and invisible (For him) form still keeping him pinned to the bed.

It certainly was shaping up to be quite an unusual night…but Kirito couldn't really find it in himself to complain at that moment.

 **[You gained 50 Affection Points with Heroine Saori!]**

 **[CONGRATULATIONS! You have Maxed Heroine Saori's Route!]**

 **[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Stand by My Heart' has been Unlocked!]**

 **['Naughty Kitty-Cat' was added to the Gallery!]**

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Ending this Annoying Sidequest!

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** And Sachi becomes the first person ever in using her Stand to do NSFW things…or not, who knows, with how bizarre that particular Multiverse is XD

That said, there you go! Hope this makes up for the long delay or, at least, was enough to entertain you today.

Quite a few crazy and random things happened today, letting out some of my inner Marvel fan amongst them, but ending the 'threat' of Hollow PoH probably was the most important one…we're all but one step from ending the Hollow Area storyline, which will also noticeably speed the end of Aincrad up!

Also, if anyone was interested, yes, the 'Haru' inside Lisbeth's Iron Man armor (Hey, Tony is kind of a smith too, right :P?) is meant to be my OC for MHCP-003 used in a couple of other stories. She won't have a big role here, but hey, at least she's not stuck with Cardinal's Bloodborne shenanigans, right?

Anyway, that's all for now! Next update, OverGamer retakes its course after a long hiatus! I encourage you to give it a read despite it saying it's a crossover, even if you don't know much about anything about Overlord (The PC games, not the LN-turned anime). It's pretty self-explanatory and includes quite a bit of original-takes on Lore. Plus, is just "Being Evil is Fun", the crack-game, as a crossover, so it can be enjoyed anyway XP

Until then, though, this is Saint, signing off!


	17. Scene 16: Ending this Sidequest!

Hello everyone! Man, it's been way too long, hasn't it?

I won't bother wasting your time with excuses, but if you're really curious and you don't follow that story, you can know the causes for this unholy delay looking at the Notes at the top of 'One Punch Gamer: Chains of Fate's latest chapter. To that, add that despite how much I love to write Eroge, this last month of the year has been quite hectic and busy for me, especially the last week, as it probably has also been for quite a few of you.

With that said, though, I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, my dear readers. And that this chapter helps you have a nice day this Christmas Eve at least XP Without further delay, enjoy!

Oh, and, as always, help filling this fic's TvTropes is appreciated. Now, enjoy!

 **Disclaimer:** Neither Sword Art Online nor its characters belong to me, as much as I wish otherwise. If they did, 'There Is But One Ultimate Way' would no doubt be the Canon Ending of the series.

* * *

 **Scene 16: Ending this annoying Sidequest!**

 **November 20th, 2024. Arc Sophia, Main Inn. Kirito's Room, 07:25…**

Yawning softly as he equipped his usual clothes, Kirito took a moment to take on the sight offered by the light of the morning sun coming through the window.

An exhausted but smiling Sachi lay on the bed, covered only by the blankets and snoring softly, causing a smile to also appear on his face. The girl (With the help of her 'guardian spirit' to completely ignore how much stronger than her he was) had been very active and even a bit forceful during their nightly actives, but had ended up passing out with a satisfied look first…not that he had much energy left at that point, barely having been able to hug her tightly and cover both with the sheets before going into dreamland himself.

Giving himself a moment to appreciate the peaceful aura around his 'wife', the black-haired boy chuckled softly as he ruffled her hair and exited the room, heading downstairs to have some early breakfast.

As he expected, nobody but Agil was there so early, the American man giving him a nod of acknowledgment as he went around preparing things for the inn to run smoothly that day, making the gamer wonder when he had time to farm and level up at all.

Still, as much as he loved spending time with his girls and/or waiting for them to wake up as of late, especially if he had just spent the night with them, he figured some alone time would do him good. Maybe try and get some breakfast up for Sachi to…

"Good morning, Papa!"

"Wah! Yu-Yui?" looking behind him, Kirito found the bubbly little AI giving him one of her usual silly smiles, seemingly in a very good mood. "Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there…weren't you sleeping with Kizmel today?"

"Yep, I was, but I woke up early thinking of something and I didn't wanna disturb Kizmel-mama…" pouted Yui while sitting across the boy, before smiling brightly again. "Oh, but that's not as important as what I had to tell you! Papa, I think I finally got it!"

"You…got it?"

"Yes, I know why your new friend and my future new mama, Philia, is stuck with a permanent Orange cursor on the Hollow Area!" happily declared the 'little girl' with apparent pride.

Immediately, the gamer was on his feet, staring wide-eyed at his daughter with a mix of disbelief and a bit of hope (Pointedly deciding to just ignore the 'future new mama' part).

"You did?!"

"Yep! Well, not exactly…I was totally lost and had no idea about what to do…until I saw it in a dream!" happily explained Yui while making a victory sign with her fingers. "This pretty lady with a weird mask and lots of chains that looked very annoyed with me told me everything I needed to know!"

"…wait, what?"

"Unimportant details, papa! The important thing is that I know what's wrong with Philia now, after putting everything you discovered about her together!" waved it off the first MHCP while puffing out her nonexistent chest. "See, when The Glitch happened during her teleportation that caused a whacky error inside the Hollow Area which messed up the…thingies that prevent errors from happening!"

"…you mean the game's code?" ventured the boy with a sweatdrop.

"Yup, that thingy! Anyway, normally when a player shows up in there, their 'Hollow' is immediately stored away, to prevent some weird error 'cause both use the same ID in the system! However, because of the Glitch, Cardinal instead accidentally spawned both her AND her Hollow on the same spot!"

"…that's what happened, then. And then…"

"Then Philia-not-yet-mama killed her Hollow in self-defense…Hollow Philia must have suffered a crash upon seeing 'another her', so she panicked and attacked. Philia answered in kind and…well, you know it ended." shrugging, the little girl paused for a moment, as if to catch her unneeded breath, and Kirito realized this was probably the longest she had ever explained…anything, probably. "Uff…that caused the new 'bug' to her Cursor to happen! Because, as you know, inside the Hollow Area, Hollows are like Players…"

"Which means killing one is seen as PKing someone would! That's why Philia's cursor is permanently Orange!" finished the gamer with an excited look on his face. "The System is erroneously confusing her with a Player Killer! And because Cardinal is all messed up and the Hollow Area is just a backup server, it hasn't been able to correct that mistake!"

"…thanks for finishing the explanation yourself, papa, I was getting tired from saying so many complicated words!" cheered Yui before taking a sip of a cup from hot chocolate, which her 'father' could have sworn wasn't there a moment ago. "So yeah, that's the reason why Philia future-mama is trapped. Don't worry, though! I'm sure you will find a Console Terminal that can correct her bugged state and let her leave the Hollow Area once you defeat the two remaining Area Bosses!"

"Oh? Did you find some information confirming that?"

"Nope! But it's just like the narrative plot of any anime that once you defeat all the monsters that are progressively blocking your path in a videogame you arrive at your objective!" proudly explained the little girl before taking another sip of her chocolate, not noticing how Kirito facefaulted at her words. "So that means you're only missing two Area Bosses, plus probably one hidden super-secret Final Boss before you can save her!"

 _"I…gods, the worst part is that I can't even honestly argue against her. With all the insane bullshit that has been happening in my life ever since I got trapped in this world, that TOTALLY could happen and I would accept it without even blinking."_ mentally lamented the black-haired boy, before taking a deep breath and standing up with decided eyes. _"Whatever the case, though, it's time to end this…today, I'm going to get Philia out of the Hollow Area! And nothing will stop me from it!"_

With those decided thoughts and quickly typing a message to all his 'wives', the gamer headed out, ready for anything and prepared to finally end the…!

"Yahoooh, Kirito! Are you heading for the Hollow Area?" shouted Strea out of the blue, all but dropping on his face just as he exited the inn, making him release a totally-manly-scream. "Can I go with you? Pweaseeee?"

"Ehm…sure?"

"Yaaay! You won't regret it!" cheered the busty AI before immediately dragging the boy of the silver cloak by the arm, burying it between her ample bust as they headed for the Teleport Gate. "Let's go! I have wanted to meet this Philia girl I have heard the others talking about for a while now."

"O-okay…

Well, that had certainly been a bit…unexpected, but it didn't change what he had decided at all! It was time to free Philia and nothing was going to stop him!

 _ **20 Minutes Later…**_

"Why won't I ever stop tempting Fate?!" screamed Kirito as he held on for dear life onto the head of 'The Hollowreaper', aka the Skull Reaper's angrier cousin, also the Area Boss of the 'Great Void' Area.

That on itself probably wouldn't have been too bad (As much as anyone with common sense would have disagreed), if it wasn't for the fact that Mochi was flying around while dodging countless strange and very diverse flying creatures and machines, luring them as close to the ground as it could for Philia and her clearly distressed followers to kill them off.

"Ha-hang in there, Kirito, we will back you off!" screamed the Lady of the Ring as she looked how the massive skeletal centipede rushed past them again with its 'rider' still doing its best to hang on AND keep it away from them at the same time. "As soon as more Chitauri are trying to kill us!"

"You know, it's in days like this that I almost wish going back to being nothing more than a semi-empty shell of data based on my original meant only for game-testing!" screamed Hollow Lind as he prevented a humanoid robot screaming something about 'The glory of Ultron' to blast their 'master' apart, by beheading it. "Things made more sense back then!"

"Hoh, boy, finally someone who understands me!" added Coper as he lost an arm to another of the 'Chitauri' that were flying around. "Fuck! A potion, please!"

"Stop whining and concentrate more on surviving, you two!" chastised them Koharu while glaring at her fellow Hollows, her own blade slashing a humanoid insect apart. "If we get distracted, we're going to get overrun!"

"I'm sad to say that's going to happen no matter what because these bastards somehow know how to use the Teleporter that brought us to the Boss Room!" shouted Mater while impaling another robot. "…also, where did that crazy girl who came with Kirito go?!"

"You mean the one with the massive rack and very little care about showing off skin?" eloquently summarized the currently armless Hollow as he downed a potion and nonchalantly dodged another fast-sweeping alien. "Haven't seen her since he said she would distract the biggest group following us when we were about to reach the Boss Room's teleporter! I know Kirito said to not worry about her, but don't you think…?"

 _RUMBLE…_

"Wait, what was that sou-?"

With a loud wail, the rooftop of the massive Boss Room exploded in a shower of breaking polygons, a gigantic flying space-whale-insect soaring down with brutal force.

"Yahooooh! Kiritooooo, sorry for the waaaaaait!" happily called Strea from where she stood with her Holy Moonlight Sword stabbed into the creature's head, twisting the unnatural weapon to the side to make her insane 'ride' to veer and crush most of the enemies still in the room, under the gaping looks of Philia and her followers. "Incoming collision from giant alien-thingy!"

"Took you long enough!" simply replied the black-haired boy without missing a beat, ignoring The Hollowreaper's vain attempts of stopping its mad speed-charge as he forcefully removed his blades from its body and threw himself into the air, his cloak fluttering almost majestically around him just as the grinning virtual girl crashed the giant mob against the similarly-sized Area Boss, jumping at the same time while the sound of the brutal collision and of polygons exploding everywhere filled the room. "…man, I'm probably gonna seriously need a psychologist when I get back to the real world, if I can then shit like this in such casual stride by now…"

"That sounds lovely!" agreed Strea as she shot past him, grabbing him as both of them spun through the air and crashed against the ground, their HP bars considerably lower, but still alive, even as the remaining half-bodies of their previous 'rides' finished vanishing behind them. "Can I go with you if you do? Visiting the psychologist sounds fun!"

Kirito barely was able to suppress the urge of making a mention to her original nature, which even now he could read on the 'Heroine Summary' he could visualize above her head if he concentrated a little bit. Instead, he opted for giving her a smile, ruffling her Hunter Hat and ignoring her pout as he took advantage of his Stats to not let his gaze drop down to her absurdly exposed cleavage.

"Maybe, Strea. It depends on how much of my sanity I need to treat when the time comes." replied the gamer as he stood up, turning to the running form of the Lady of the Ring and her Hollows, just in time to receive a tackle hug from her. "Ugh…thanks?"

"Du-dummy, you scared me for a second there!" complained Philia while hanging onto him for dear life. "…that was one of the most awesome things I have ever seen, though."

 **[You gained 50 Affection Points with Heroine Kotone!]**

 **[You stimulated her inner Marvel Fangirl! You gain +10 in Aura!]**

"Heh, if you say so…okay then everyone, how about we exit this area and NEVER come back around here again? I don't know about you, but I could do without being hunted by cheap reproduction of western comic books' characters for the rest of my life…"

With a vocal round of agreements, the bizarre group that had more virtual than flesh and bone members headed towards the Hollow Area's last zone, ready to face anything…

* * *

Flying through the skies of Floor 82, a couple of figures soared the air a few times before landing just at the entrance of the latest Floor, Leafa's wings closing just as Lisbeth did a classic 'Superhero Landing' and then let her armor's faceplate open to show her massive grin.

Quite a few of the Front Liners that were just exiting from where the latest Floor Boss had just been defeated clapped, even as several of the other members of Unison Heart rolled their eyes.

"Okay, now that I'm not flailing around through the air like a headless chicken, I'm actually starting to love flying around." chuckled Lisbeth while giving her fellow flier a thumbs-up. "I'm starting to get why you're so crazy about it, Leafa!"

"Heh, yeah, flying is truly amazing. Back in ALO, it was one of my main reasons to enjoy playing the game…" trailing off with a small smile, the blonde 'angel' couldn't help but release a nervous laugh when her gaze settled on something else. "Then again, I bet _she_ feels more as if she's flying than any of us right now."

Gazes drawn by her words, the rest of the gathered girls turned to look at a point near where the rest of the Front Liners were still sorting out the drops they had gotten from the Boss, where the chipper form of Sachi could be seen sauntering about, staring at the sky as if it was the greatest thing in the universe.

The fact that the other players were giving her a wide berth probably had to do with how sometimes the ground around her would randomly shake or gain claw-marks on it, as if some oversized, invisible and un-hearable feline was excitedly making rounds around her master.

"…well, all of us here know that feeling firsthand, so we can't really blame her." sighed Argo with a wry smile as she shook her head, her strange shadowy cloak draining all light as she turned to look up with a pensive look. "Hmm…that makes everyone but a pair of us, huh?"

"…well, if you're not counting Sinonon and that crazy Strea girl, or Philia-san in the Hollow Area, then yes." nodded Asuna with a small blush, which everyone else quickly shared, the golden-clad girl coughing out loud. "Though I feel we probably will have to sooner or later…probably the former."

"I can hear you, you know! I'm only ten steps away!" shouted a very red-faced Sinon while stomping on the ground. "And I have told you again, you _don't_ get to count me amongst you! I-I'm not into Kiri…that idiot! We're just friends by circumstances until I regain all my memories, okay?!"

"…poor girl is still way too in denial." commented Yuna as she walked up to the group, having been speaking and exchanging items with her guild until that moment. "What were you talking about that triggered our resident sword-wielding Archer?"

"We were talking about those that have clearly taken the 'next step' with Kirito. Sachi here joined 'our ranks' last night, clearly." commented Lisbeth while closing her armor's faceplate and pointing at where the spear-user was still enjoying the marvel that was walking while humming.

 **"Player Lisbeth, in case you didn't know, everyone can tell you just put your faceplate up to pretend you're not blushing up a storm when saying that."** chimed HARU from within the pink-haired girl's Iron Man suit, making her twitch.

"Nobody asked you, know-it-all AI…"

"Putting Liz's arguments with the literal voice inside her head (Or helmet I guess) aside, yeah." continued Kizmel with a fond smile, the downward arrow on her forehead seeming to gleam for a moment at whatever she was thinking. "If we exclude the ones mentioned earlier, which have come into Kirito's life the most recently, then the only ones who have yet to take up their rights as Kirito's wives are Lux and…"

"We're back!" called out Silica just as Pina's massive shadow flew above the group, the Elder Feathery Dragon 'roaring' as it landed beside the rest of the guild, Lux thanking her and her rider/partner as she hopped off its back. "There doesn't seem to be much in this Floor except the main town and some weird sand-traps all around the center of it…probably would take hours to go around walking through them, but it's just a few minutes if we go flying above it!"

"Then that will probably be what we do when the time comes!" quickly said Asuna before anyone could say anything, walking forward to the pair and giving them a big smile. "Let's head back to Arc Sophia and start getting lunch ready!"

"…were you talking about something before we came in?" innocently asked Lux as she looked around, the sometimes oddly sharp, if clumsy, girl noticing the mood in the air contrasted with the Gold Saint's clear attempt to change the mood, making her flinch and the others to look away embarrassed.

"U-uhm, Asuna-san was just talking about how Sachi-san looks clearly quite happy today!" explained Leafa with a nervous smile, hoping that the pair looking towards the happy-go-lucky spear-user would serve as enough explanation. "And that we shouldn't…"

"We also wondered when you two are going to make use of your right as Kirito's wives and lay with him." added Kizmel with her usual Warhammer-like bluntness, making both girls freeze in place as their faces slowly started turning an interesting shade of crimson. "Then again, given how things have been going lately, maybe one of you two already planned something for toni…?"

"WE'RE GOING BACK TO SCOUT!" shouted Silica with a very shrill voice as she jumped onto Pina's back with all the mastery of someone who based her entire fighting style around jumping on monsters' backs, Pina then gently grabbing the still unmoving Lux with a claw and shooting up into the air surprisingly fast. "We will see you all back in Arc Sophia lateeeeeeeerrrr…!"

"…and there they go. Great going, Kii-chan." groaned Argo as the dragon flew away under the confused stares of many players, probably because of how a statue-like Lux was hanging off one of its limbs. "Let's hope they calm down fast."

"…my apologies, I know they're probably amongst the most skittish of us all, but I would have thought at this point the thought of intimacy with our husband wouldn't elicit such an extreme reaction." apologized the Dark Elf while looking in the direction their 'fellow wives' had flown off to.

"Eh…I'm sure they will calm down and come back in a little while. Plus, they have each other to talk to if their thoughts get a bit too messy…" trailing off, Lisbeth gave Asuna a smile after those words, remembering how the girl had helped her out during her own 'situation'. "Sometimes, that's all you really need. A dear friend with which to talk to."

 **"…player Lisbeth, I would like to remind you player Asuna can't see you smiling if you have the armor's faceplate up."** amusedly commented HARU, causing her partner to heavily blush and curse her.

The happy laughter that erupted amongst the group brought a smile to most of the people gathered too. It made the AI within the simulated virtual super-armor feel oddly peaceful.

Anything was better compared to the mess of chaos in which Cardinal had become…and maybe it was about time to bring that up with her user and her friends.

After all, whatever the consequences, they needed to get out of that damn game before the System running it finished going mad…

* * *

Amedister the Queen was the single remaining of the Hollow Area's Main Bosses The ones that served as 'overseers' and guardians of its Main Areas, at least.

Still, the massive insect queen monster, hidden within the depths of the bizarre-looking Outer World Area, capable of spawning quite an annoying number of ads 'children' to fight for her was a terrifyingly powerful enemy, whose power was comparable to that of most Bosses in the last upper quarter of Aincrad.

…which was why it was so extremely confused and being unable to do anything but run around as 'slashes of moonlight' kept tearing her body apart, the massive gigantic bug's AI being an absolute mess.

There were no players within her lair at all, after all, yet she was somehow being destroyed from outside her Aggro Range, meaning it had no idea how to retaliate. Never mind that her ads were completely useless as they were even less able to reach whatever was killing her than she was.

Also, none of the guardians, sub-quests, and triggers needed to even open the way up to her Boss Room in the first place had been activated at all. What the hell was going on?!

…relatively high the sky, Mochi snorted, the deceptively strong creature casually circling around again while 4 of its 7 'passengers' sat and munched on some sandwiches and sweets, two stood looking down at the Area Boss with focused looks and the last one…happily hummed about what a good day to hunt it was as she once again swung her shining blade downwards, sending yet another slash of deadly moonlight down.

"Ahahahahah! Gotta say, while I don't mind getting up close with monsters, there is something weirdly thrilling about this!" laughed Strea as another of Amedister's HP bars vanished.

"…man, that's awesome." grinned Philia while her hands twitched, as if wondering if she could pull off something similar.

"Welcome to the world of dirty cheaters, Strea. It's…not actually as bad as the 'me' of a couple of years ago would have thought." summarized Kirito with a small shake of his head.

To be honest, a part of him still felt bad for the Boss down there, the once fair gamer within his soul crying about how unfair it was that all of its unique properties and mechanics were being utterly wasted.

Thankfully, the new part of him developed under the maddened strain of having gained Dating Sim powers and being trapped in a game where you actually died if you were killed quickly bitch-slapped that other, smaller part of him away.

Truly, the moment they had exited from the Void Area and seen how the new alien-looking forest one was…well, _completely outside_ , with no buildings or structures that seemed to be their destination or stood on their way…a shit-eating grin had appeared on his face.

Simply hoping on Mochi's back to bypass literally every single area of the labyrinthic and weirdly-colored woods had felt cathartic after all the bullshit they had experienced in the previous zone. They didn't even have to face whatever weirdness had infected this particular part of the Hollow Area thanks to that! (Which were probably zombies or something equally stupid and cliché like that)

So it was with nothing but a deep satisfaction that the black-haired boy watched the last Area Boss shatter into pieces.

"Yay! Victory!" cheered Strea before turning around and burying Philia on her cleavage, the smaller girl squeaking as she tried to get free for some virtual breath, but the Hunter seemed to be surprisingly strong even accounting for the power the Ring gave its Lady.

"A-air…air…!"

"Strea, let her go…"

"Man…this is finally over, hmm?" commented Koharu with a relieved sigh. "A bit anticlimactic, but I can't say I don't prefer that over the alternative."

"Preach, sister. I, for once, am glad that this didn't summon anything crazier or weirder." declared Coper while raising a mug of water towards her fellow Hollow, drinking it one go. "…still, what exactly do we do…?"

At that very moment, 5 beams of energy shot from every corner of the Hollow Area, one of them from directly below them, converging on the distant form of the black sphere they all knew was the Control Area, making it glow for an instant.

"…now? Never mind, that answers that."

"Well…guess we're heading back to the control room, then." sighed Lind while dusting off some inexistent food remains from his black cloak. "Glad that we can leave this area without any…"

Black-red tendrils shot up from down below, coiling around Mochi's wings and dragging the shocked Fellbeast and all of its passengers down into an unexpected cacophony of screams.

Experience from having 'fallen to his death' more times than a 16-years-old should have, Kirito spun in the air and reached out, grabbing Koharu and Coper before hugging them close to himself, his cloak flapping wildly around them as he put himself back-first towards the ground.

On his peripheral vision, he saw Philia shouting as she held onto Mater and Lind, her eyes burning with power as the Ring summoned forth ancient power to surround them like a glowing barrier, even as Strea _Quickened_ to the side, turning into Mist for a brief moment to slow her descent.

And then he crashed onto the ground with brutal noise, the terrifying impact being so loud that the only reason a massive crater didn't form was that most of SAO's terrain was an Immortal Object. Two more followed shortly after.

Skulking forward, the…black _thing_ that had downed the group retracted its hair-like tendrils and moved in an eerily slow way. Its body could only vaguely be called humanoid, its torso looking like nothing more than an open maw of broken ribs twisting in demented ways. Its head and face…were nothing more than some strange and deformed abomination between scar tissue and a tumor, twisting from side to side almost in a perfectly synchronized way.

Above its head, no HP Bars were visible as it looked over the crumpled silver cloak of the gamer, but a name barely covered in corrupted data could be clearly read.

 ** _'The Moon Presence'._**

Releasing a sound that didn't seem from this world, the monster lashed down with its abnormally long limbs…

"In your dreams, you foul beast!"

…and was met by Elder Emperor's edge as the Nameless Knight emerged from under the cloak, stopping the attack with a battle cry while the two Hollows whose life he had saved backed off, cuddled within his mantle.

Atop the 'crazy hero', his now yellow HP Bar turned red, making him grimace.

Realistically, he should be proud and relieved from having survived the fall alone, never mind being able to parry the creature's attack. 95% of Aincrad's players would have died just from the former, after all.

However, he wasn't a normal player, in more ways than one. His 'wives' so-called 'super abilities' made most people forget, but he was _way_ above the curve for even the strongest Front Liners.

Diavel, for example, was Level 89 last he checked. Klein had just pushed the rank into 91 as of the previous Floor.

Thanks to the Hollow Area, he was currently **Level 163**.

And that was without accounting for all the Passive Boosts, Active Buffs, Passive Skills and Damage Bonuses he had slowly but surely obtained from the Control Console thanks to grinding like hell through the ever-crazier grounds of Aincrad's backup testing server. A lot of his original skills had been upgraded to levels that could only be called 'broken' in every sense of the word.

Like his Battle Regeneration, which was currently making his HP shoot back up as he pushed the inhumanly powerful mass of corrupted data in the shape of some Lovecraftian wet dream back thanks to a STR Stat which no player would have normally been able to achieve so fast.

That was why, when the abomination moved far faster than it had before, so much it would have been able to decimate an entire Party of high-level Players, he was able to dodge, parry, block, and counterattack with deadly efficiency. Stunned, Koharu and Coper could only watch what looked more like a fight from a Shonen anime than a Boss Battle within a VRMMO.

Releasing another bloodcurdling wail, the Moon Presence shot into the air, defying gravity by soaring above Kirito and lashing out with its tentacles again.

Undeterred, the Nameless Knight brought out his second blade, both swords glowing with the telltale power of a Sword Skill as Starburst Stream was unleashing, cutting off a couple of the tendrils and making the creature scream before the last one made his spare weapon break apart like cheap, polygonal, glass.

…he really needed to get around having Liz make him a good one soon. So idly thought the post-skill-cooldown-frozen gamer as the monster roared and created several white balls that shot towards him.

He wasn't worried, though. After all, as proud as he was of his amazing fighting prowess, at the end of the day, there _was_ a good reason why most people didn't notice or focus on it too much…

"Don't touch him!"

"HYA!"

…as Philia's sudden scream and brutal destruction of every single projectile coming his way (The burning blood that erupted from them harmlessly falling to the ground) could attest, just as Strea slammed her Holy Moonlight Sword on the monster's side, causing an explosion of pale light which sent it flying.

At the end of the day, what the girls around him could do was just way flashier and cooler-looking than what he did, after all.

"Is everyone okay?" asked the Nameless Knight without missing a beat, even as the corrupted abomination roared and literally _bent_ itself back to its feet.

"Yes, they are! Mochi is a bit stunned, but he didn't die by a miracle!" shouted back the Lady of the Ring even as Mater and Lind rushed in to drag their still stunned comrades out of the way. "What IS that thing?!"

"Corrupted data vomited out of the Cardinal System in the shape of eldritch nightmares." summarized Strea with that unusually serious tone she always adopted whenever one of those things appeared. "…leave it to me and go on ahead. It won't take long and I'm sure that, if this thing spawned here, something bad is gonna happen in whatever was unlocked by beating that last Boss unless you hurry."

"Wha…?! Are you crazy?! That thing brought Mochi down as if he was a fly, we need to…!"

"Are you sure, Strea?" calmly interrupted Kirito without looking away from the Moon Presence, earning a shocked look from Philia as he did so. "Can you really guarantee you can beat that thing by yourself without risks?"

For a moment, the red-eyed virtual girl hesitated, the weight of something in her pocket suddenly seeming unusually heavy. She only had one of 'those' left.

But…if it meant returning to his side after he asked her to…

"…yes, I can."

"Then that's all I needed to hear." nodding to the orange-haired girl, the armored figure quickly signaled to where the four Hollows hesitantly waited, getting their injured 'pet' ready to fly again. "Let's go."

"…argh! I'm trusting Kirito on this, but you better come back right away, okay?!" shouted the Lady of the Ring before rushing after her totally-not-crush and her followers.

Immediately noticing its targets' attempt to leave, the abomination of corrupted data moved to stop them…only for a massive slash of raw moonlight to be blocked by its tendrils, the deformed face turning towards the smiling Hunter, her blade suddenly losing its shine as she faced the Moon Presence alone.

"Sorry, but you're not going to touch them at all."

Once again moving faster than anything its size had any right to, the mass of corrupted data roared as it tried to grab Strea and crush her in one move, but she simply Quickened to the side at the last second and cut with the now normal-looking (And lighter) sword through one of its arms, leaving a gash bleeding damaged data all around.

Mentally counting to ten as she exchanged more hits with the brutal monster, the former MHCP-002 finally deduced Kirito and the others should have gotten out of sight.

With a grim smile, she sheathed the sword on her back…and brought out the small vial filled with crimson liquid from her pocket.

Stabbing the Blood Vial on the side of her neck, Strea took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and reached for the Saw Cleaver on her back, even as her enemy tensed all of a sudden.

Because it had felt the change in the WEIGHT behind the Hunter's presence…

Her smile now looking much sharper and darker, the busty girl's eyes shot open…now nothing but pools of corrupted data as she grinned sinisterly towards the Moon Presence.

" **Now then…time to Hunt.** "

Unleashing a roar as inhuman as her opponent's, the virtual girl exploded forward, _Quickening_ towards her prey…

* * *

Within the Floor Labyrinth of Aincrad's 82nd Floor, the loudest sound one could hear was…that of electricity frying monsters with deadly efficiency.

Even as another wave of crystal-golems was reduced to collapsing polygons by a slightly-annoyed Pina (Who clearly didn't like the constricting walls and ceiling of the dungeon), Silica sighed as she lowered her dagger, Lux catching up to her from around the corner with her sword at the ready.

"I finished them…oh, and seems like you two are also done here, uh?"

"Yeah…sorry again for dragging you all the way here, Lux-san. I was just…a bit overwhelmed." mumbled the twin-tailed girl while looking away.

"Hey, it's okay, I felt the same way, so I'm kinda glad you took me away." mumbled the silver-haired girl while sheathing her blade. "I just wasn't expecting you to take us to tear through the Labyrinth, with Pina included…are you sure she can be inside here without it being too-?"

"Lux-san…do you think I'm childish?"

The sudden question caught the older girl off-guard, her eyes moving and looking at her usually cheerful and casual-about-brutality friend.

She was now slightly hunched over and looking oddly tired with a complicated expression on her face that made her look even more bizarre than her 'armor' already did. Worriedly, her oversized dragon friend nuzzled her head against her body, getting a weak caress in return.

"I…what's with that question all of a sudden, Silica?"

"I…I love Kirito-san. And while before meeting him I may have really been nothing but a brat that was in over her head, ever since he saved me that first time, I have been changing…I'm still changing, I like to believe, but…" looking down at her hands, the twin-tailed girl's voice suddenly became little more than a whisper. "What if…what if he can't see me _that_ way as he has with the rest?"

"…oh, Silica." shaking her head as a smile appeared on her face, Lux finally seemed to realize what the issue was, even as she started taking resolute steps forward.

"I-I mean, I know he loves me, you know? He has proved it many times…even the other day when we were at the Maid Café…bu-but this body of mine…what if he doesn't want to touch me like that be-because it's…small? Li-like, I can't blame him if that's the case, but…I wouldn't be able to live with it! M-my self-esteem would take a Critical Hit so big I don't think I could ever reco-!"

Silica's increasingly desperate rant was cut off when the silver-haired girl hugged her, the love-filled embrace making feel oddly relaxed.

"Shh…it's okay, Silica. I know how you feel."

"Yo-you? But, you're…"

"How my body looks has nothing to do with it, Silica…tell me, have you ever tripped with your own two feet…consistently through all of Middle School? Have you ever been so clumsy that your food flew from your hands, did an inverted spin and fell all over your head?" questioned Lux with a sad laugh, even as the younger girl looked at her with wide eyes. "I have gotten better recently, especially since I started living with you all, but it doesn't change that I have been a total disaster of a girl for almost my whole life…even when Laughing Coffin strong-armed me into joining them, I was almost killed several times for screwing something up, despite my life being on the line…"

"Lux-san…"

"But you know what? If being with everyone has taught me anything, is that none of that really matters…it hasn't made my fear of not 'taking the next step' with Kirito because I think I may screw it up horribly to go away, but it has helped me not to feel bad about it." chuckling, the silver-haired girl smiled brightly at Silica, who was still between her arms. "Kizmel was only saying what was on her mind as always…neither she nor the rest will pressure us into anything, you know that. When we're ready, we will do what we think is best, and we won't be less than anyone for it."

"…how can you be so confident?" asked the awed Dragon Tamer while smiling too.

"I'm not confident at all…just go with what my guts tell me, or so Liz would say. Hmm, how did that one videogame I played put it?" looking thoughtful for a moment, Lux let another smile appear on her face as she remembered. "Oh, yeah! _'Let your Heart be your guiding Key'_ …that's how it went!"

"I…like how that sounds." laughing softly, Silica finally let go of the older girl, her usual smile back on her face. "Lux-san…thanks a lot. You're right…neither Kirito-san nor the others will judge us, no matter what we do, so…let's just do as our heart says!"

"And what is your heart telling you, Silica?" questioned Lux with some happy curiosity.

"…that we go and murder the hell out of the Floor Boss to release all the pent-up frustration from that awkward conversation!" proclaimed Silica while pointing forward, Pina releasing a roar of approval…or maybe just of annoyance from having to through such a constricting corridor again.

"Didn't Argo tell us not to do that, though?"

"Eh, it's just ONE Boss, Lux-san. I'm sure it will be fine!"

"…okay! Let's go kill it!"

And with that declaration, the two girls held hands and headed deeper inside while the feather-covered dragon followed, relishing on the prospect of virtual brutality to further deepen their friendship.

Aincrad's 82nd Floor Boss may have actually made them reconsider or regret things, given how powerful it was…if it had been anything but an oversized iron golem.

It conducted Pina's gleeful electricity in a quite spectacular way.

* * *

In hindsight, Kirito should have realized things weren't going to be clean and simple, even before Strea's ominous warning when they left her behind.

Instead of just a new console or similar waiting for them in the Control Room, what had shown up was a new Teleporter on the opposite side of it. Which would have been good at all if it had brought them directly at where they wanted to go, but, of course, things couldn't be that easy, right?

Well, on the bright side, at least he knew what else was within the _gigantic_ sphere that was the core of the Hollow Area beside the Control Room, which always had seemed way too small to be everything inside it, in his opinion.

Then again, given how he was now running away through a floating semi-transparent hallway within an almost literal labyrinth floating within a virtual void, he could have gone without ever having seen this 'Control Area'.

Turning around a corner, a roaring creature which he was sure was probably meant to be an orc lunged at him, but the resolute figure of the black-haired boy (Having swapped back to his cloak and out of his 'Nameless Knight' armor) barely paid it any attention, beheading the monster with a swift move of Elder Emperor and continuing on his way.

Once again, though, he screamed for his missing companions, the seemingly endless corridors carrying the echo of his voice.

"Philia! Koharu, Mater, Lind, Coper! Dammit, where the hell are you, guys?!"

The moment they had touched the Teleporter, _something_ weird had happened, Philia even screaming out loud a warning before he felt himself being weirdly yanked to the side and, when he had opened his eyes a few seconds later, he had found himself in one of those corridors with nobody else in sight.

He only hoped that the orange-haired girl and her friends were okay. Because at this rate, unless he started literally kicking down some walls or Philia managed to enter his line of sight in the distance at some crucial point, his bullshit powers weren't gonna help him in the slight…

A strange slithering sound behind him made the black-haired boy freeze and spin around, a hand over the handle of his blade.

There was nothing in the labyrinthic hallways behind him, though. It was still as empty as it had been after he tore through the mobs filling them.

Warily giving the empty area one last look, the gamer shook his head before starting to run once again, remembering he had no time to lose.

As he did so, he never noticed the strange black 'sludge' suddenly moving from where it had melted with a corner, somehow perfectly imitating its texture and looking like just another piece of the void below, even as it quickly hurried after him with almost hungry speed…

Meanwhile…Philia and her followers/friends weren't really having the best of times. Sure, they had survived being separated from Kirito _and_ then rushing through several unknown corridors filled with mobs, sure. But when they had found another teleporter that thought would just take them further inside…

"Aaaaaaah!"

"Holy shit, what the hell is wrong with this thing?!"

"Is this thing really an SAO Boss?! It looks more as if came from a sci-fi fantasy!"

"Ke-keep it together, everyone! Protect Philia-sama!"

"I don't need protecting, Koharu! Let's just find a way to kill it before it kills us!"

Despite her words, the orange-haired girl wasn't sure if such a thing was actually possible. After all, staring up at the mighty form of Occuldion the Eclipse, the Hollow Area's True Final Boss (Because of course there had to be such a thing), she was fearing that even her overpowered Ring wouldn't allow her to get out of this alive or, at least, without losing some of her comrades.

Releasing a sound that seemed halfway between a beast and a machine, the mighty red, black and white entity once again moved, its claws glowing with energy stolen from the stars around them, the two oversized 'swords' from its back whistling through the air menacingly as Mochi hopelessly tried to distract it, even as he created several…magic circles (The girl knew no other way to call them) before itself and unleashed reddish energy that the group was barely able to dodge, feeling the power behind the lasers reducing their HP bars despite not touching them directly.

And did I mention that the thing was so big any of them perfectly fit inside its clawed hands?

Between that and the fact that it casually flew around the small circular platform that was all they had for the 'Boss Battle' in the middle of the massive star-filled void that seemed to act as the center of the Hollow Area, things really weren't looking good for the group of Hollows and one human.

Of course, that's when Lind finally managed to hit one of the creature's sword-limbs hard enough to drop its first HP Bar down…and then it roared with its vaguely dragon-like head as it flew back, out of everyone's reach but Mochi's.

The Fellbeast abandoned any inclination from trying to reach it when the massive red 'mandala' on its back suddenly spun, though, and the mighty Super Boss created a giant ball of darkness within its claws, raising it over its head as if it was parodying an attack from a Shonen anime.

Gulping in disbelief, Philia realized the thing must have been almost as big as Occuldion himself before he threw it, straight to the center of their only foothold in the void.

"SCATTER! Run to the edges of the platform!"

Running even as she gave that order, the Lady of the Ring was vaguely aware of her friends and followers doing the same, the golden band in her hand shining with forbidden power just as the massive sphere crashed and 'splashed' around into many smaller ones…that were still the size of a car at least.

The fiery energy of her Ring protected her easily enough. The others…were not so lucky.

"GAH! I-I can't see!"

"I thought there was no 'Blind' status on this game?!"

"U-unless someone slashes away your eyes, it shouldn't!"

"Ho-how do you even know that can happen, Mater…?!"

Staring in shock, Philia bit her lips upon seeing how her friends covered in some strange and shimmering darkness. Turning around angrily as Occuldion casually floated once again within striking distance, the girl's eyes seemed to burn with fire as she jumped and, almost as of if he had timed it perfectly, Mochi flew by just for her to land on the Fellbeast's back.

"Nobody messes with my friends, you oversized alien-thing! Mochi, let's get him!"

"RAAARGH!"

Almost seeming to release an amusing alien sound, the Final Area Boss called forth the magic circles that allowed it to shoot its lasers, unleashing the beam attacks that, by any normal SAO Boss' standards, would have made the already overpowered creature an even more 'broken' fight.

A burning, lidless eye of fire sprouted forth between the Lady of the Ring and them, though, the burning organ swallowing them with laughable easiness and staring down at Occuldion's suddenly not-so-impressive form, the Boss' AI actually stopping for a moment, unable to understand what it was watching…

With a scream, Philia and Mochi broke through the fire and crashed straight into the creature's head, the girl screaming and then stabbing deep into where the monster's brain would be if it was a living weapon with her wicked-looking dagger.

Quickly followed by slamming the ring capable of altering the physical substance of the world around it by a mere effort of will onto it. And while the innocent, if determined, being that was Takemiya Kotone didn't have the mindset needed for it…and would take a few years before anything capable of making her feel such dark thoughts presented itself in her life, the golden band filled with forbidden power, even if it was just a virtual reproduction, liked her enough.

As such, the Hollow Area's Final Boss was the only one truly 'surprised' with eldritch power blasted through it from the point where the dagger had pierced into its skull. Releasing a shrieking sound as his HP bars were all but blasted out of existence, the creature finally died without any fanfare, just the loud sound of scattering polygons and of Mochi's screech as it swooped back and let his mistress safely land on his back once again.

Releasing a breath she didn't even know she had been holding, Philia trembled slightly and held her right hand, looking straight to where she had, for a moment, the Ring burning into her virtual skin. That…had been new. And unexpected…and something she couldn't see she had liked very much, given the strange whispers and visions of burning lands she had just gotten when doing it. Resolute, the orange-haired girl decided she would never try that again unless there was literally no other option and someone else's life was on the line…

"Phi-Philia-sama, did you do it?!" asked Koharu just as their tired Lady landed near them with a shaky smile. "We still can't see but we heard something blow up!"

"Yes, guys…it's over." proudly declared Philia while shaking her head. "Now let's get…"

 **'Final Area Boss defeated. All system requirements have been met'**

"…huh?" echoed 5 voices at once, accompanied by a confused draconic growl, at hearing the mechanical voice around them.

 **'Preparing Final Test for the Acknowledged Tester'**

The moment those words were spoken, all the people present within the platform floating in the boy felt a shiver run down their backs and even those who still couldn't see turned their heads in the right direction to see _someone_ appearing from nowhere with a rush of polygons.

Familiar black hair. A familiar silver cloak. A familiar bluish sword.

Even with all of that, all that the Lady of the Ring felt upon seeing the dull-eyed form standing across the platform was a terrible sense of foreboding.

"…Kirito?" asked Coper as soon as his sight returned, the others also staring in shock.

And as if he had been waiting for those words, a dim light seemed to come forth from within the figure's eyes, his pupils turning golden as he regarded all of them with emotionless eyes.

"…not exactly."

Then, he was amongst them, Elder Emperor drawn back and slashing down upon Koharu's defenseless form, the Hollow screaming as she saw the edge come straight for her head…only to be stopped by Philia's dagger at the last second, the orange-haired survivor gritting her teeth as she pushed against the sword and glared at the emotionless-eyed boy.

"Hollow!" snarled the Lady of the Ring as she barely managed to make him take a step back, realizing how insane his Stats had to be for just that to happen despite the boost the golden band gave her. "You're…Kirito's Hollow, aren't you?!"

"Indeed I am." casually replied the new Hollow as he tilted his head to the side. "I'm the copied data meant for testing of Player #958, in-game name Kirito…currently the strongest player within Sword Art Online's servers going off raw stats and level alone. But…this is strange…"

"Wha-what's so strange?" warily asked Philia while she watched her friends slowly get back to their feet and grip their blades.

"I was spawned as a final test for anyone capable of getting to the last stage of the Hollow Area. Therefore, I should have no autonomy or thoughts that interfere with my programming…but ever since I hear him call out that name, my AI has been expanding non-stop."

As soon as those words escaped the Strongest Hollow's mouth, he was amongst them, golden eyes glinting as his fist lashed out in a Martial Arts Skill that send Mater flying straight into Lind, then a backflip with another glowing kick letting him take Koharu down with seemingly no effort, a quickly ensuing Horizontal disarming Coper and making him fall down without even missing a beat.

"Wha…?!"

"KUH!"

"Ouch!"

"Da-dammit!"

Shocked, the only human present in the room stared at how her followers had been neutralized in less than 4 seconds.

"…the more I fight you, the more my mind expands. How curious." a flicker of something appeared on the Hollow's eyes as he stared right towards the paralyzed Philia, who quickly narrowed her eyes and raised her wicked dagger in a defensive stance. "I wonder, if I destroy you all here and now, win the 'battle' meant for the 'Players' to win, do I get to become my own per…?"

And that was as far as the virtual copy went before something descended from the sky like a meteor, cutting off his right arm and sending him flying to the edge of the platform.

Philia's relief at seeing the silver cloak was short-lived, noticing the weird way in which its owner was twitching…and feeling a strange shiver going down her back as he released a strangled growl.

Then, he turned around and she was barely able to not shout in disbelief upon seeing half his face covered by some black substance that seemed to be alive, one big white eye formed over where his own right one would be even as he grit his visible teeth.

"Phi-Philia…u-use **your ring** and…take **this thing** off me, ple- **please** …!" growled Kirito as the black mass tried to engulf more of his body and his hand shot up to try and rip part of it off his face. "It's **trying to** …get into **my head** and…I don't **like that** …!"

 **['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]**

The black-haired boy was barely aware of the notification before him before Philia raised her dagger as she rushed at him and promptly slammed it against her glowing Ring, a loud and thunderous noise from clashing metal filling the air like visible shockwaves, making the living black substance trying to cover him to 'scream' and all but jump off him, away from the worried-looking girl.

Letting out a relieved sigh, the gamer fell on his knees, feeling terrifyingly tired all of a sudden.

"Kirito, are you okay?!" cried out the Lady of the Ring as she rushed to his side, helping him back to his feet. "Where did you even find the Venom Symbiote?!"

"He-hell if I know…I was just rushing through the hallways trying to find you all and then that thing latched on my back. It was making me stronger…but also speaking inside my head and filling me with violent impulses, so I realized I had to get it off fast before it fully engulfed me…" sighing in relief once again, Kirito sent Philia another grateful smile, making her blush. "Thanks for that, Philia."

"I-it wasn't anything special, Kirito…you have saved me more times than I can repay already, after all…" mumbled the girl while looking away and trying to control her flaming cheeks. "Be-besides…"

"Ehm, sorry to interrupt the cutely romantic moment, but while you did that the sentient black ooze crawled all the way to Not-Kirito." deadpanned Coper from where she was lying on the ground.

"…what?"

All gazes snapped around, in time to see the twitching form of Hollow Kirito stare blankly as the Symbiote rushed over him, engulfing his body in an instant.

"Well…this sucks." were the copy's last words before the black tide consumed his head, the new form standing up as the body shifted and the arm he had lost reformed from the black substance. " **Raaarrrghhhhh…!** "

"…that can't possibly be good." mumbled Mater as she and the others stood up and adopted a loose formation around the two humans.

"You think so?!" snarled Lind as the former Hollow released another inhuman roar.

It was at that moment that the creature's hands became clawed, his muscles bulged to a degree that would make bodybuilders jealous and a sharp-teeth-filled mouth opened on its face, all-white eyes staring sinisterly at them as a massive and disgusting sharp tongue dripped from it.

On the chest of the abomination now looking at them, a massive white spider sat, almost seeming to call forth some old and forgotten fear from deep within human psyche.

Mochi let out a whine that reflected what everyone was thinking.

" **You rejected ussss…** " breathed out the black entity as it took a menacing step forward. " **Now, we shall kill-!** "

"No."

" **…eh?** "

"No, fuck it, I'm NOT doing this." growled Kirito as he stomped on the ground, a tired and quite angry look on his face as everyone looked at him in surprise. "Today was supposed to be a simple and straightforward day to finally end this Hollow Area business, and instead I have been from whacky fight to crazy fight, fell off the sky, had to leave Strea behind alone to fight another weird corrupted-boss thing, and then got lost for almost half an hour through a massive transparent maze floating in the middle of space! So no, I'm not gonna do a fucking _'Beat your superpowered evil copy'_ -fight now! I have had it up to here with all these damn references and clichés! Fuck you, Cardinal!"

Then, without even giving anyone time to process his words, the gamer turned around, grabbed Philia's shoulders and kissed her, the girl's eyes turning into saucers as she felt her entire body go stiff at the action, only to then melt into it.

 **[You gained 100 Affection Points with Heroine Kotone!]**

 **[Relationship Status 'My Precious One' has been maxed! Upgraded to 'My Soul's Dark Lord'!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have reached the last level of a Heroine's Route! You will unlock a Special Event if you max this level!]**

"Wha-what the…?!" was all that a startled Mater could say at the sight.

"Oh…congratulations, Philia-sama!" cheered Koharu while raising her empty arm in the air.

"Is this really the time for this?!" shrieked Lind with a deadpan while pointing at the paralyzed and wide-eyed form of 'Venom'. "That thing is still there more than ready to kill us?!"

"Philia…you know I don't really have the most normal of situations. And my life is more than 'a bit' complicated; you have seen part of that firsthand already." softly muttered Kirito once their lips separated, completely ignoring everyone else as he looked straight into the orange-haired girl's quivering blue eyes. "However…I want to protect you. And you to protect me. It may sound selfish, but, if you're willing to put up with it, with me…I want you to be part of my life, even after we get out of here. S-so…what do you say?"

 **"….wa-wait, no!** " suddenly screamed the creature standing near them, whether it being for something he had glimpsed inside Hollow Kirito or from his brief bonding with the original somehow having realized what the gamer was trying to do, jumping forward with impossible speed to try and separate him from the blushing girl. " **You won't jussst get rid of…!** "

"…yes. I…I would love to." mumbled Philia with a small but happy voice, also completely ignoring the world around them.

['To Protect that Smile' has been activated!]

 **"…usssssss…!** " was the last thing that the black entity said when a _fucking meteor_ flew past the platform, crashed onto and dragged him away into the void, under the wide-eyed and open-mouthed stares of the Hollows.

 **'Annual Testing of Aincrad's shooting star simulation for Quests finished as scheduled'** randomly announced a voice in the background.

"…did that really just happen?" asked Coper to no one as they stared at the point in the void their enemy had just vanished from sight.

"What did just happ…? Wait, where did Venom go?!" shouted a blushing Philia while looking around, finally out of her 'trance' and realizing their opponent had vanished.

"Where it can no longer annoy us, thankfully." sighed Kirito while eyeing the void of stars, thankful when their enemy didn't emerge once again an, instead, a soft chime made a massive console materialize before them, leaving everyone staring at it in awe. "Now…let's get out of here and _never_ come back to this crazy place."

"…too bad about him, though…I'm just remembering Venom is not always a bad guy…"

"Philia, please, don't tempt Fate to try and made it come back. I'm just really glad we got rid of that thing without anyone being seriously affected…"

Almost a year later, when he tried to stop a blackened blade and a smile filled with teeth from crushing him atop an icy bridge, Kirito would curse his past-self a lot.

That, however, was a story for another time. This one, though, 'ended' with a burst of light filling the Teleport Gate of Arc Sophia, many eyes turning in surprise as a black-haired boy with an orange-haired girl hanging from his arm as she looked up at the Floor-covered sky with tears in her happy eyes, a normal green cursor over her head…

* * *

"…ah…home sweet home." mumbled Strea as she arrived at the small backstreet where her Inn was, quite away from the main areas of the town, a tired but happy smile on her face as she limped slightly forward. "That thing was…more annoying than I thought it would. Ah, gotta remember to send a Message to Kirito telling him I'm fine, of course, silly me…my head is all tingly from that stupid fight…"

Whispering a bit of nonsense, the virtual girl quickly typed the message and even made a cute 'kiss' gesture towards the screen before sending it, letting a small chuckle and turning towards her Inn…before a familiar voice made her stop.

"Thanks a lot, nice lady! You helped out a lot, Papa was super happy that what I told him about the console was right! And I have a new Mama now, like I predicted, so everyone is happy!"

"…Yui-chan?" muttered the lavender-haired AI while turning her head towards the end of the street, rushing towards it as fast as she could and then peeking into the alley parallel to it. "What the…?"

There was Yui, effectively, with an excited smile on her face, seemingly talking with…a wall of the alleyway?

"We're making this huge party to celebrate Philia-mama's return to Aincrad! She was a bit sad because her friends couldn't get out of the Hollow Area too, even if they're all safe now, so everyone is doing her best to cheer her up! I sneaked out after hearing you calling, though, to thank you!" cheerfully explained the little girl while raising her arms. "Is there anything I can do for you? Papa said it's important to repaid favors!"

Staring back at her, the tall shadow with a mask and with many clinging chains around her seemed to say something only the surprised Yui could hear.

"Eeeeh? I already told you, though…papa and everyone else says destroying the future is a bad thing, so I won't do it." pouted Yui before blinking at whatever was said next. "Huh? Just a matter of time…? Oh, yeah, I should probably be getting back before they notice I sneaked out! Plus, Agil-san is making this massive cake and I want a piece before Klein-san eats it all! Later, mask-lady!"

With those words said, Yui hurried out of the alley and back towards Arc Sophia's main inn as fast as her little legs could carry her. In doing so, she never noticed Strea half-crouched near the wall, watching her go before, slowly, making her way inside the alleyway and staring at the point where her 'big sister' had been talking alone.

An old and tall abandoned _mirror_ , which was probably part of the city's background decoration, lazily reflected her pale face.

Suddenly, she really needed to go and hug her Kirito-pillow very tight…

At the same time, Kirito sneezed from where he was sitting on his bed, going through his Inventory to organize all the drops he had gotten that day in the Hollow Area. After all, a lot of the rare consumables that casually dropped in there were invaluable resources for the other Front Liners and he had technically participated in 2 Area Boss' fights today, never mind the other countless mobs he had killed during it all.

Still, he was more than a bit tired, and not just from the craziness of the day. Everyone had quickly organized a 'welcome party' for Philia, and the 3 girls that had already met her in person had quickly dragged her to introduce her to everyone else. It had been loud, fun and chaotic, and despite the fact that they had to leave her quirky friends behind at the Control Room (With promises to go visit them every day from the sad and happy girl), the Lady of the Ring had clearly enjoyed herself greatly.

She was sleeping in a nearby room right now, where Sinon, Argo, and Leafa had been talking with her until she finally fell asleep, in a bed for the first time in quite a while.

Thinking about such things, there was also what his dear Info Broker had proposed after telling him about Silica and Lux apparently going ahead and ended a Boss by themselves, and once he had told her a rough estimate of the Items he had gotten. It was a crazy plan that carried quite some risk…but if it worked…they may be out of Aincrad before the year ended, which was honestly a very good prospect in his mind.

Besides, it had been quite a while since he had tried 'speedrunning' anything…

Blinking in surprise at the unexpected sound of something hitting his window. Surprised, the black-haired boy stood up and headed towards it, opening the curtains…and deadpanning at Pina's massive head leaning down from where she was clearly lying on the roof.

"Pina, what the hell? What are you doing there?"

"Kyuuu!" answered the Elder Feathery Dragon with apparent pride.

"…you're just a distraction? What?"

"Indeed she was, Kirito-kun!" happily declared a familiar voice from behind the boy, making him turn around to see a smiling Lux standing beside his bed in her pajamas, a small smile…which contrasted with how burning red her face was. "I'm here!"

"A-a-and me too!" squeaked another voice from somewhere around the bed, making the gamer look around in confusion before his gaze was drawn to the space under his bed. "W-w-we came to spend the night with you, Kirito-san!"

"…Silica, you don't need to hide, it's fine." sighed Kirito with a small shake of his head, a smile appearing on his face as the pajama-clad form of Silica emerged alongside Lux in an almost comical fashion, twiddling her thumbs nervously, her hair free of her twintails for once making for a rare and exotic sight. "Did anyone else put you two up for this?"

"N-no…we decided we wanted to…uhm, well…just be with you tonight, you know?" mumbled the older of the pair while shyly looking at the bed, her face seeming as if it could catch fire at any second.

"…then you can, if you really want to." firmly declared the black-haired boy while sitting on the bed and patting it with a calming look. "I won't say anything about you two going ahead and soloing a Boss at all…but we can just lie here together and cuddle all night if you want to."

"Re-really? Just that? A-and you won't be…disappointed?" asked a surprised Silica with wide eyes.

"Girls…I love you. Even if saying that is probably extremely selfish whenever I say it to you all, it won't change the truth." softly spoke the gamer while smiling at them, making their faces heat up even more and their hearts to skip a beat…but also the tension that had been filling them to bleed out in an instant. "I will never force you to do anything you don't want to, nobody will. So…do you really want to stay here?"

For all answer, the girls exchanged a quick look and, a few minutes later, Kirito had a smile on his face as both girls lie on his side while resting their heads on his chest with happy looks on their own.

Yeah, this was truly a relaxing way to end such a chaotic…

"Heh…you were right, Lux-san. Just letting your heart be your guiding key works!"

"…huh, where is that reference from? I'm pretty sure I have heard it before…"

"Eh, it doesn't matter now, Kirito-kun. Just that we're all happy and fine with each other and with whatever we want to do. Besides, heh, at worst we will have to deal with some teasing from Liz next morning about spending the night here and not doing 'anything'."

There was a strangely awkward pause for a moment…before Silica shot up from her position and rolled over herself until she was hugged atop the surprised boy, Lux's eyes widening as she saw the burning look in her eyes.

"I changed my mind! I'm not letting Liz-san make any jokes about m-me!"

"Si-Silica?!"

"Wo-woah, Silica, calm down, there is no need…!"

"Don't go now and tell me that, Lux-san! Now, strip!"

"EH?!"

"You heard me! You're gonna help me make sure Kirito-san isn't 'disappointed' at all tonight!"

"Wa-wait, I wouldn't be…AH!"

And even as the room descended into a curious and, ehem, very intimate chaos…none of its three occupants seemed to remember they had left the curtains open.

Otherwise, if they had been able to concentrate on anything but each other, they would probably have been very unnerved by how Pina spent the whole night staring at them with curious eyes and the closest thing a dragon could have to a blushing face…

 **[You gained 50 Affection Points with Heroine Keiko!]**

 **[You gained 50 Affection Points with Heroine Hiyori!]**

 **[CONGRATULATIONS! You have maxed Heroine Keiko's Route!]**

 **[CONGRATULATIONS! You have maxed Heroine Hiyori's Route!]**

 **[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Draconic Tongue' has been Unlocked!]**

 **[Congratulations! The Special Skill 'Key of the Heart' has been Unlocked!]**

 **[A Special Event has been triggered!]**

 **['Girls Ops-Teamwork' has been added to the gallery!]**

Within the depths of Aincrad, the time of the end crept closer…

* * *

 **[Next Scene]:** Speedrun this Floating Castle!

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Finished! And just in time for Christmas too, heh XP

Once again, sorry to you all for the delay, I hope you had enough fun with the chapter to make up a bit for it. On that note, yeah, even Kirito is SO done with all the randomness the story has been going through lately trying to drive him insane…luckily for him, it's almost over! We're at most 2 or 3 chapters away from ending the Aincrad/Hollow Fragment arc. Also, Philia is now free, so she can join in with the last bit of crazy randomness our heroes will face before getting out and back to 'normal' lives…pfftt…

And yeah, easy to forget, but the Hollow Area let you become stupidly overpowered Gameplay-wise...if you compare everything you can get there and semi-realistically apply it to Aincrad in comparison? It makes for a good excuse as for why Kirito and the gang managed to finish Aincrad's last 25 Floors so fast and become decent Front Liners in the case of a few of them (And that last Area Boss was total BS! How the hell were just two people supposed to realistically beat that if it had been an actual in-VR Boss Fight and not another videogame stage?! Kirito and Philia should have been SO dead before the fight was halfway done!) Also, can anyone guess where Lux's reference was from :3? It shouldn't be too hard~

All of that aside, once again, let me wish you all Happy Holidays! I hope you have a good time with family, friends, or however you celebrate the holidays, be it Christmas or anything else you celebrate. See you all next year at OverGamer's next update! (And let's hope the year is less busy so that I can write faster XD)

Until then, this is Saint, signing off!


End file.
